Smart art

Australian artist Jeffrey Smart (b. 1921) was on Talking Heads last night on ABC1.

Linked to ABC1: Talking Heads

PETER THOMPSON: You say in your book that you thought that you were the only homosexual in Australia.
JEFFREY SMART: I was the only one, yes. And then there was a wonderful book put out by Kenneth Walker, who was an English psychiatrist. And I found out that so many of the famous composers were poofters! And I found out how many of the artists were poofs. And writers. You see, I thought, “This is amazing!”
PETER THOMPSON: And this was a comfort for you, no doubt?
JEFFREY SMART: Great comfort, yes, yes.

I like his work.

Islam medley

Revolutionary new experiences in The Shire 1967 to 1968

Such a time it was of social change when I was 24, even in The Shire — where one Beth Kimball, an American teaching at Cronulla High School, introduced me to the following hitherto unknown exotica. Well, maybe not to the rose wine or the cappuccino, but they were new to me around that time.

 

Redfern visions 4

…and one from Surry Hills

Traffic waiting to cross Cleveland Street by the Surry Hills Village Centre — actually in Redfern! I found the pic on a Russian blog; it is obviously fairly recent.

The pictures which follow are on The Council of the City of Sydney Register of Significant Trees. The first two are around Redfern, the middle one being the park near where I live. The final one is Devonshire Street Surry Hills. Not bad for inner city life, are they?