Paintbox Fine Art

Auguste Blackman presents a collection of paintings from his 'Owl and Pussycat' series. Blackman, the son of writer Barbara and artist Charles Blackman, grew up in a kind of wonderland. The bohemian milieu of his parents and their circle of friends provided fertile ground for the imaginings of their children.

Blackman inherited the creativity of both his parents to become an artist with a love of literature. Surrounded by the imagery of his father's famed 'Alice in Wonderland' series in his formative years, his artistic inspiration springs from nursery tales and childhood fables, in particular Edward Lear's fanciful tale of The Owl and The Pussycat - and fabulous these images are! Owls, pussycats, guitars and piggy wigs, (not forgetting the pea green boat and runcible spoon) cavort across the canvases of these whimsical works.

Edward Lear was a talented artist who specialised in painting birds. He worked with John Gould on the famous ‘Birds of Europe’ lithographs when he was just 20 years old. Aged 34 he gave a series of drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. But it was his nonsense writings later in life that ensured his place in history. The legacy of Lear and his 'nonsense' writings has been important to Auguste Blackman's art and he has composed a poem especially for his Canberra debut which he will read at the opening of his exhibition.

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