'The Magic Pudding'...

Can it be over 100 years - published just after WWI - Norman Lindsay's 'The Magic Pudding'. It was meant to be an antidote to the horror and loss of WWI. Perhaps the vitality and whimsy could be desirable now. (The image below is a 1959 drawing for a puppet show of the story.) pic.twitter.com/5F9wVcNSZL

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) May 12, 2020

Some years ago, when I lived in Sydney
I visited Norman Lindsay's home at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains...
Fortunately, those were the days before 'wise ones' decided to
'polish it up' and make it
a more touristy venue.

I saw the many interests and the skills of the 'anti-establishment' Lindsay.
He was a painter and a writer
of stories and poetry.

But he was so much more.

I saw a model boat he built that filled a room.
I saw his extensive book collection...floor to ceiling...
I saw a huge range of his original paintings...
and all featured a cat in a cameo role somewhere...

I wandered Lindsay's garden as he left it...
The winding paths dominated by Greek-style statues...
Lindsay was a sculptor too...

But my favourite place
was a humble little building... his 'workshop'...
separate from the house...
It was a mess...left as he left it...
scattered papers...typewriter askew...
smoky light through a smudged window...
a cobweb or two...
The ambience was amazing...
I loved it...

Norman Lindsay's whole life
was testament to
the possibility of living...
really living...
no matter the world around...

(Lindsay was quite a controversial figure...
Some of his work was banned...
Many of his paintings featured female nudes...
Strict moral and religious teachings
he met with very public disdain)...

NOTE: I found tucked into a website advertising menswear -especially bowties (I know, bizarre) - an article written about Lindsay - including some images of his writing/painting hideaway.