a creator of characters
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My birthplace was in Lostock, Bolton, in Lancashire England, and for the short time I was there I was a small boy.
The family migrated to Australia on the ship H.M.S. Cheshire and I believed that it was named after the Cheshire cat in my favourite book - Alice in Wonderland. Now, being small was quite fortunate as the shared cabin was also small – but with something special. An even smaller porthole. With my nosed squished up against the glass, I could look out and see wonderful things: Flying fish among the towering white-capped waves. Fish flying? Impossible! I thought there and then that if I could be on a ship named after a cat and see fish flying; what else is possible?
With my Mum and Dad; my brother and sisters; we lived on the coast just south of Sydney. There was a walk in one direction to school and another to the sea, where I learnt to swim and surf – then a walk up the bushy slopes and hills of Mount Keira. All of this with my kelpie dog Rover – although the teachers would have preferred not to have him at the school. Countless hours were spent with my brother David, learning how to draw. He would draw a squiggly line and I would have to make something out of it with as few lines as possible – and quickly! Then, it was his turn. Faces and all sorts of creatures would appear.
With a house full of art, books, and music, and lots of drawing to nurture my imagination; a world of imagination was forming – but it would take some time. With all the love of the bush and its unique animals jumbled up in my mind, I travelled the country over the years; working in many and varied jobs: Circus and carnival hand, cane - cutter, steelworker, builder’s labourer, are just a few. It is from these experiences that the unique group of characters called the Bushys have emerged.
Please take a step further and explore this place of Bushybush. Come, meet the Bushys and all that is in their world.
