Donated by Alexander Thurston Watson through the Australian Government Cultural Gifts Program, 1979Oil, metal and timber on boardgippsland, artwork, permanent collection

Stewart SCAMBLER Stewart Scrambler is also a woodfirer, making ceramic forms inspired by the Western Australian landscape from local clays and glazes and a mix of native timbers from his York property. He used an incised or impressed 'Stewart' for his mark on early works but later started incising his full name.Wheelthrown and woodfired lidded jar. stewart scrambler, ceramics, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, gippsland campus, woodfire 86, bohemian ceramics, australian studio pottery

Wes WALTERS (06 August 1928 - 19 August 2014) Born Mildura, Victoria From 1940 t0 1945 Wes Walters attended the Ballarat High School. He then studied architecture at the Gordon Institute in Geelong, followed by art at the Ballarat School of Mines (a division of the Ballarat School of Mines). During his time at the Ballarat Technical Art School (later Federation University Australia) Walters studied under Neville Bunning and Taylor Kelloch, and was awarded the Ballarat Ladies Art Association Scholarship in 1948. He next moved to Melbourne to work as a commercial artist with the George Patterson advertising agency. Each evening Walters studied life drawing at the Victoria Artists’ Society and taught himself anatomy. Wes Walters excelled in both abstract and realist art. He won the Art Gallery of Ballarat’s Minnie Crouch Prize for watercolour art in 1953 and 1956. He won the prestigious Archibald Prize in 1879 for his portrait of Phillip Adams. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Framed abstract mixed media artwork featuring natural timberwes walters, artwork, artist, available, abstract

Paul KLEE (1879-1949) Born Switzerland Paul Klee was a Swiss painter who trained at the Academy of Fine Art, Munich. From 1911 he was involved with the Blaue Reiter group at Munich, and the following year he took part in the Blaue Reiter exhibition.The lithograph depicts blocks of colour, and is framed in a blonde timber frame. Signed lower left 'Klee'. Edition 116/200feduni art collection, klee, paul klee, printmaking, blaue reiter, lithograph, colour lithograph

Paul Raphael MONTFORD (1868 - 1938) Paul Montford moved to Australia to carve four buttress groups in granite for the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. In 1924 he was teaching at Geelong Technical College. Professor Alfred Mica Smith was a long term lecturer at the Ballarat School of Mines. The sculpture was commissioned by former Students of the Ballarat School of Mines working in Western Australia. One of those former students, William Corbould, remembered his first encounter with the professor fondly:- 'From the Registrar's Office I was led to be introduced to the Professor of Chemistry, one Mica Smith. The initial encounter gave me little encouragement - his large laboratory was filled with hundreds of bottles bearing strange labels with queer symbols on them. My heart sank. At the first opportunity I grabbed my hat and made for the door, but the good professor called me back. I pointed out that I was never any good at school ... so it was no use pretending to be clever enough to understand all those weird symbols! The Professor told me not to worry about that and took me to one of the benches where he found a blowpipe and a charcoal block. Mixing together two powders from bottles on the shelf he transferred a sample to the charcoal and directed the bunsen flame onto it. Soon it began to melt and a white bead appeared in front of my eyes. He then took a test tube and added a little colourless liquid from each of two bottles. A beautiful dark blue colour appeared. My interest was won.' Alfred Mica Smith was the well-loved Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy at the Ballarat School of Mines between 1881 and 1922. Upon reaching the age of 78 Mica Smith retired having influenced generations of miners. At the time of his death Ballarat School of Mines Students’ Magazine reported: "In the annals of the School, the year 1922 will be noted chiefly as the last year in which Professor Mica Smith taught here. With his retirement, a memorable epoch closed. The Professor has served the School for 42 years with a service, the length and thoroughness of which are unique. … It is not quite realised in this city how famous the School became throughout the world, nor to what extent the Professor was responsible for its high position in the mining and metallurgical world. … This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Marble bust of Ballarat School of Mines Professor Alfred Mica Smith by Paul Montford. The bust is mounted on a jarrah pedestal made from timber donated by the Millar Timber and Trading Company. The bust was formally presented to the Ballarat School of Mines on Saturday 13 December1924 in front of Alfred Mica Smith and a large gathering. It is signed 'Paul R. Montford, Sc, 1924' at the back.Professor A. Mica Smith, 1924, Presented by His Old Students Associated with Western Australia as a Token of Affectionate Esteemart, artwork, ballarat school of mines, montford, paul montford, alfred mica smith, mica smith, marble, bust, sculpture

Vic WOOD (1939 - 02 October 2020) Born Melbourne, Victoria Vic Wood was an internationally renowned artist, craftsman and teacher from the 1970s. He studied gold and silversmithing, woodturning and cabinet making at Melbourne Teachers' College and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He was a skilled woodturner who, as a lecturer at Melbourne College of Advanced Education, taught a generation of woodworkers. Best known as a master wood-turner, Vic Wood retired from lecturing in 1983 to become a full-time woodturner. He was a sought after demonstrator and presenter for all kinds of local and international events. His teaching philosophy was simple: ‘share everything, have nothing to hide, and have no secrets; for ultimately it is in giving that you receive’. Vic Wood was a foundation member and inaugural president of the Victorian Woodworkers Association (VWA). In 1923 the Victorian Woodworkers Association announced the establishment of an annual Vic Wood Scholarship. he intent of the award is to promote excellence in woodwork and to engender inclusive and supportive woodworking networks. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Large lathe-turned sculptural relief. art, artwork, vic wood, wood, woodwork, sculptural relief

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Framed black and white woodcut depicting two stylised woodcutters in front of a house with tank.Signed lower right 'Kenneth Jack'art, kenneth jack, jack, artwork, printmaking, woodcut, ballarat teachers' college collection, timber cutting

Michael KITCHING (1940 - ) Born Hull, England Arrived Australia 1952 Without any formal art education, sculptor, painter, print maker and designer Mike Kitching emerged as one of the original voices of the 1960s art movement in Australia. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Metal and timber 3-dimensional wall artwork in grey and red.art, artwork, michael kitching, kitching, sculpture, wall art

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.A timber and steel sculpture. art, artwork, horsham campus art collection, sculpture

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Sculpture of a human form in timber. If you can provide information on this artist or artwork please use the email link below. art, artwork, andrew malcolm, sculpture, horsham campus art collection

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.A colour photograph of a balancing rock at Wilson's Promontory mounted on green card in a temporary timber frame. If you are able to assist with information on this artist or artwork please email using the link below right.art, artwork, photography, wilson's promontory, available

Hiro KURAWARAA ceramic form, on a ceramic tile, on a timber base. hiro kurawara, ceramics, jan feder memorial collection, gippsland campus, artwork, artist, jan feder memorial ceramics collection

Peter CLARKE (1969- ) Gunditjamara (Lake Condah) Born Heywood, Victoria At two months old Peter Clarke was removed from his parents and placed in a Catholic boy's orphanage in Ballarat. The orphanage was closed and Peter was moved to a public orphanage where he discovered 'manners were not a necessity and you often had to take before you were ever given in this orphanage. ... This new orphanage was not a home for me but a prison of sadness and despair.' Disconnected from his country and lore Peter Clarke chose "my own path to land, county and water". Although his childhood memories are dark and bleak, he uses vibrant colours. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Mallee Wood didgeridoo with vibrant colours. A natural wood imperfections have been used to emphasise what is recognisable as a frog. This work was purchased from the "My Art, My Life, My Colours' exhibition at the Federation University Post Office Gallery, May 2008.art, artwork, aboriginal, peter clarke, didgeridoo, stolen generation, st joseph's orphanage, sebastopol, my art, my life, my colours' exhibition, federation university post office gallery

Stephen HOGBIN Born England Renowned wood turner Stephen Hogbin was a craftsman-in-residence at Melbourne State College in 1975, and a visiting artist at the Gippsland Centre for Art and Design in 1999.Timber bowl made of red oak.turned wood, bowl, gippsland campus, churchill, visiting artist

William Brian (Badger) BATES (1947- ) Born Wilcannia Barkantji Badger Bates is a Barkantji Elder, political activist and contemporary artist. Known primarily for printmaking, wood and stone carving, his work is intrinsically linked to his lifelong fight for the safety and health of the Barka (the Darling River).'Gitji Woman' is carved from a very old piece of log found at Wittabrinna Creek near Tibooburra, Western New South Wales. The tree was dead for 60-80 years, and was hollow inside. "I could see a figure in the wood so I folowed the shapes already three. The woman has a drawn out figure with long fingers and is coming out of the log, she is an ancestral spirit. I put the pink cockatoo and emu feathers in the leg in the way people used to decorate themselves for corroborees."badger bates, paakantyi, wilcannia, timber, aboriginal, barkantji

Judith NEUWILLER (later Judith AMBrOSE) Judith Neuwiller graduated with a Bachelor of Art (Visual Art), and Graduate Diploma of Visual Arts at the Gippsland Centre of Art and Design in 1987, and a Post Graduate Diploma of Fine Art. Victorian College of the Arts in 1988. Painted timber sculpture.gippsland campus, churchill, judith neuwiller, alumni, sculpture, gcad, gippsland centre of art and design

Framed six block linocut showing two men cutting wood. Donated through the Australian Gifts Programme by Katherine Littlewood.Edition 17/50kenneth jack, printmaking, linocut, woodcutters, timber

Craig HARRISON Dr Craig Harrison has held solo exhibitions regularly since the mid-1970s, including curated exhibitions at the La Trobe University, Australian Catholic University, and the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. He was a finalists in a number of prestigious awards and prizes, including the Dobell Prize for Drawing (2010, NSW), and the Rick Amor Prize for Drawing (2016, Ballarat). Craig Harrison is also a respected art educator, who had taught fine art at the Deakin Univerity, MLC, and ACU between 1975 and 2004. From 1988 to 1989 Craig Harrison was Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts at Ballarat College of Advanced Education (later Federation University Australia). ​ Mounted behind white conservation board, pale timber frame, glass cover. Gift of Professor Shirley Kaye Randell, AO, PhD, Hon.DLitt, FACE, FAICD, FIML, first woman in the Executive Team of the Ballarat College of Advanced Education as Dean of Academic Affairs, 1989- 1990signature bottom right - "Craig Harrison '89."art, artwork, craig harrison, painting, available, ballarat college of advanced education

Adrian MAURIKS (1942-2020) Born Holland Arrived Australia 1957 Adrian Mauriks completed Undergraduate and Post Graduate at the Victorian College Of The Arts, Melbourne, Victoria between 1972 and 1978. In 1978 Adrian Mauriks was appointed to the School of Visual Arts at the Gippsland Institute of Education in Churchill (now Federation University). He lectured in a number of univeristies before retiring in 1996, including the University of Ballarat (now Federation University)Timber made of painted cypress pineadrian mauriks, sculpture

Timber framed oil on canvas. Painting depicts a woman sitting at a table reading a letter (her back to viewer). To her left on the table is a framed photograph of a WWII soldier, immediately in front of him is a poppy and behind him to his right, is a mantel radio and to his left, an oil lamp. Timber framed oil on canvasPlaque "Lilydale Art Society Inc / Spring Show Nov 18 & 19 1995 / "Australia Remembers 1945-1995" / Art Competition / 1995/ 1st Prize / Sponsored by Lilydale Sub Branch RSL / and "Australia Remembers 1945-1995 Assoc."

The location of the bridge has not yet been identified but further investigations will continue, as will details of when the work was completed by Graham Hopwood.A significant images of an early local structure in Buninyong. Requires further research.Engraving of a rough old timber bridge in Buninyong by artist and art educator, Graham Hopwood.Hand written on the backing paper of the frame: 'Originally owned by JM Matheson, given to Marjorie Matheson, 1956, Olympic Games'.graham hopwood, bridges, engravings, topographical art, buninyong

2002 Excellence in Construction AwardsFramed Award 2002 Excellence in Construction Awards, JA Dodd LTD, Excellence in Construction, (Existing Buildings) Under $2 million, Project: The Royal Mint Building, Architect: Robert Peck von Hartel Trethowan, Location: 280 William Street Melbourne, J A Dodd Ltd's refurbishment of the historic former Royal Mint Building delivered to the client's specification in retaining the features of this historic building, while at the same time providing modern office accommodation with state of the art facilities. New works have been defined by a modern style encompassing glass, stainless steel and flush surfaces, offering a stark departure from the ornate finishes of the original building. Traditional timber mouldings, tiles stonework and intricate paint methods have been used only where repairs to the existing building were required. The judges praised the superb job and made special mention of the exposed roof trusses. 38 master builder awards

Something new has happened in Kylie Stillman’s work. It is not a departure. Perhaps a better way of explaining it would be an inward looking, a reflection on process and purpose. In the twelve small book stacks that make up this series, we find not birds or trees – the forms that have become familiar tropes in Kylie’s art – but a stroke, a scribble, a loop, a weave. In Kylie’s words these are: 'the basic structural elements and gestures that make things things - the stroke that makes a painting, the scribble that makes a pen work, the notation that makes writing, the intertwining of wool that makes a garment, the weave of fibres that make furnishings'. - Chloe Watson (2013)Paperback books and timber baseaustralian art, sculpture, female artist

Chip carving was a popular hobby/pastime from the arts and crafts movement of the 1890s and remained a popular folk art until the 1920s.This is an example of a popular folk art hand-carved chair made in Australia in the early twentieth century.Hand-carved timber chair, by an unknown enthusiast in the Warrnambool area. Made using the 'chip carving' technique, with whorls and star design in relief on the seat. The timber finish has been given an ebonised tone. Chip carvings

Art Gallery with mural painted by Clifton Pugh (1924-1990) at his Artists' Colony, Dunmoochin, Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. Following military service in the second world war, Clifton Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie at the National Gallery School in Melbourne as well as Justus Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat. For a while he lived on the dole but also worked packing eggs for the Belot family saving sufficient to purchase six acres (2.4 ha) of land at Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. He accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in a property of approximately 200 acres, stablishing it as one of the first artistic communes in Australia alongside Montsalvat in Eltham. It was around 1951 that Pugh felt he had '"done moochin' around" and so the name of the property evolved. He bought timber from Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminer's huts, it was a one room wattle-and-daub structure with dirt floor. Over the years it expanded with thick adobe walls made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors. All materials other than the local earth were sourced from second hand materials, most found at wreckers' yards. Artists from across the nation were drawn to Dunmoochin, with several setting up houses and shacks on the property, maintaining their independence but sharing their artistic zeal. Artists who worked or resided at Dunmoochin included Mirka Mora, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen. In 2002, Pugh's house along with its treasure trove of art and a library of some 20,000 books was destroyed by fire. Traces of Pugh's home remain with the presence of the Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design, procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. In place of Pugh's house rose two double-storey mud-brick artists' studios topped with corrugated iron rooves curved like the wings of a bird with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings survived the fire. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p153 It’s not surprising that artist Clifton Pugh was drawn to Cottles Bridge to establish his artists’ colony Dunmoochin. Undisturbed by the clamour of modern life at Barreenong Road, Pugh was surrounded by the Australian bush he loved, and where his ashes were later scattered. The 200 acres (81ha) of bushland, broken by glimpses of rolling hills, has more than 50 species of orchids and Pugh shared his property with native animals including kangaroos, emus, phascogales, wombats, and diverse bird life. Pugh encouraged these creatures to join him in the bush by creating, with Monash University, a holding station where the animals were raised. Dunmoochin inspired Pugh for such paintings as in a book on orchids and the Death of a Wombat series.1 But his love for the bush was accompanied by the fear that Europeans were destroying it and much of his painting illustrated this fear and his plea for its conservation.2 However it was his house rather than the surrounding bush that was to be destroyed. Tragically in 2002 Pugh’s house, with its treasure of art and library of 20,000 art books, was destroyed by fire. Traces of the beauty of Pugh’s home still remain, however, in the magnificent Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. Now in place of Pugh’s house, are two double-storey mud-brick artists’ studios topped with corrugated roofs curved like birds’ wings, with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings remain.3 Pugh grew up on his parents’ hobby farm at Briar Hill and attended the Briar Hill Primary School, then Eltham High School and later Ivanhoe Grammar. At 15 he became a copy boy for the Radio Times newspaper, then worked as a junior in a drafting office. Pugh was to have three wives and two sons. After serving in World War Two in New Guinea and Japan, Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie, at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.4 Another of his teachers was Justus Jörgensen, founder of Montsalvat the Eltham Artists’ Colony. Pugh lived on the dole for a while and paid for his first six acres (2.4ha) at Barreenong Road by working as an egg packer for the Belot family. Pugh accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in the 200 acre property. They, too, purchased their land from the Belot family by working with their chickens. Around 1951 Pugh felt he had ‘Done moochin’ around’ and so the name of his property was born. Pugh bought some used timber from architect Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminers’ huts it was a one-room wattle-and-daub structure with a dirt floor. It was so small that the only room he could find for his telephone was on the fork of a tree nearby.5 Over the years the mud-brick house grew to 120 squares in the style now synonymous with Eltham. It had thick adobe walls (sun-dried bricks) made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors with the entire structure made of second-hand materials – most found at wreckers’ yards. Pugh’s first major show in Melbourne in 1957, established him as a distinctive new painter, breaking away from the European tradition ‘yet not closely allied to any particular school of Australian painting’.6 Pugh became internationally known and was awarded the Order of Australia. He won the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times, although he preferred painting the bush and native animals. In 1990 not long before he died, Pugh was named the Australian War Memorial’s official artist at the 75th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Today one of Pugh’s legacies is the Dunmoochin Foundation, which gives seven individual artists or couples and environmental researchers the chance to work in beautiful and peaceful surroundings, usually for a year. By November 2007, more than 80 people had taken part, and the first disabled artist had been chosen to reside in a new studio with disabled access.1 In 1989, not long before Pugh died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 65, he established the Foundation with La Trobe University and the Victorian Conservation Trust now the Trust for Nature. Pugh’s gift to the Australian people – of around 14 hectares of bushland and buildings and about 550 art works – is run by a voluntary board of directors, headed by one of his sons, Shane Pugh. La Trobe University in Victoria stores and curates the art collection and organises its exhibition around Australia.2 The Foundation aims to protect and foster the natural environment and to provide residences, studios and community art facilities at a minimal cost for artists and environmental researchers. They reside at the non-profit organisation for a year at minimal cost. The buildings, some decorated with murals painted by Pugh and including a gallery, were constructed by Pugh, family and friends, with recycled as well as new materials and mud-bricks. The Foundation is inspired by the tradition begun by the Dunmoochin Artists’ Cooperative which formed in the late 1950s as one of the first artistic communes in Australia. Members bought the land collaboratively and built the seven dwellings so that none could overlook another. But, in the late 1960s, the land was split into private land holdings, which ended the cooperative. Dunmoochin attracted visits from the famous artists of the day including guitarists John Williams and Segovia; singer and comedian Rolf Harris; comedian Barry Humphries; and artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and Mirka Mora. A potters’ community, started by Peter and Helen Laycock with Alma Shanahan, held monthly exhibitions in the 1960s, attracting local, interstate and international visitors – with up to 500 attending at a time.3 Most artists sold their properties and moved away. But two of the original artists remained into the new millennium as did relative newcomer Heja Chong who built on Pugh’s property (now owned by the Dunmoochin Foundation). In 1984 Chong brought the 1000-year-old Japanese Bizan pottery method to Dunmoochin. She helped build (with potters from all over Australia) the distinctive Bizan-style kiln, which fires pottery from eight to 14 days in pine timber, to produce the Bizan unglazed and simple subdued style. The kiln, which is rare in Australia, is very large with adjoining interconnected ovens of different sizes, providing different temperatures and firing conditions. Frank Werther, who befriended Pugh as a fellow student at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, built his house off Barreenong Road in 1954. Werther is a painter of the abstract and colourist style and taught art for about 30 years. Like so many in the post-war years in Eltham Shire, as it was called then, Werther built his home in stages using mud-brick and second-hand materials. The L-shaped house is single-storey but two-storey in parts with a corrugated-iron pitched roof. The waterhole used by the Werthers for their water supply is thought to be a former goldmining shaft.4 Alma Shanahan at Barreenong Road was the first to join Pugh around 1953. They also met at the National Gallery Art School and Shanahan at first visited each weekend to work, mainly making mud-bricks. She shared Pugh’s love for the bush, but when their love affair ended, she designed and built her own house a few hundred yards (metres) away. The mud-brick and timber residence, made in stages with local materials, is rectangular, single-storey with a corrugated-iron roof. As a potter, Shanahan did not originally qualify as an official Cooperative member.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, art gallery, clifton pugh, dunmoochin, cottlesbridge, cottles bridge, barreenong road

Following military service in the second world war, Clifton Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie at the National Gallery School in Melbourne as well as Justus Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat. For a while he lived on the dole but also worked packing eggs for the Belot family saving sufficient to purchase six acres (2.4 ha) of land at Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. He accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in a property of approximately 200 acres, stablishing it as one of the first artistic communes in Australia alongside Montsalvat in Eltham. It was around 1951 that Pugh felt he had '"done moochin' around" and so the name of the property evolved. He bought timber from Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminer's huts, it was a one room wattle-and-daub structure with dirt floor. Over the years it expanded with thick adobe walls made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors. All materials other than the local earth were sourced from second hand materials, most found at wreckers' yards. Artists from across the nation were drawn to Dunmoochin, with several setting up houses and shacks on the property, maintaining their independence but sharing their artistic zeal. Artists who worked or resided at Dunmoochin included Mirka Mora, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen. In 2002, Pugh's house along with its treasure trove of art and a library of some 20,000 books was destroyed by fire. Traces of Pugh's home remain with the presence of the Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design, procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. In place of Pugh's house rose two double-storey mud-brick artists' studios topped with corrugated iron rooves curved like the wings of a bird with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings survived the fire. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p155 It’s not surprising that artist Clifton Pugh was drawn to Cottles Bridge to establish his artists’ colony Dunmoochin. Undisturbed by the clamour of modern life at Barreenong Road, Pugh was surrounded by the Australian bush he loved, and where his ashes were later scattered. The 200 acres (81ha) of bushland, broken by glimpses of rolling hills, has more than 50 species of orchids and Pugh shared his property with native animals including kangaroos, emus, phascogales, wombats, and diverse bird life. Pugh encouraged these creatures to join him in the bush by creating, with Monash University, a holding station where the animals were raised. Dunmoochin inspired Pugh for such paintings as in a book on orchids and the Death of a Wombat series.1 But his love for the bush was accompanied by the fear that Europeans were destroying it and much of his painting illustrated this fear and his plea for its conservation.2 However it was his house rather than the surrounding bush that was to be destroyed. Tragically in 2002 Pugh’s house, with its treasure of art and library of 20,000 art books, was destroyed by fire. Traces of the beauty of Pugh’s home still remain, however, in the magnificent Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. Now in place of Pugh’s house, are two double-storey mud-brick artists’ studios topped with corrugated roofs curved like birds’ wings, with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings remain.3 Pugh grew up on his parents’ hobby farm at Briar Hill and attended the Briar Hill Primary School, then Eltham High School and later Ivanhoe Grammar. At 15 he became a copy boy for the Radio Times newspaper, then worked as a junior in a drafting office. Pugh was to have three wives and two sons. After serving in World War Two in New Guinea and Japan, Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie, at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.4 Another of his teachers was Justus Jörgensen, founder of Montsalvat the Eltham Artists’ Colony. Pugh lived on the dole for a while and paid for his first six acres (2.4ha) at Barreenong Road by working as an egg packer for the Belot family. Pugh accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in the 200 acre property. They, too, purchased their land from the Belot family by working with their chickens. Around 1951 Pugh felt he had ‘Done moochin’ around’ and so the name of his property was born. Pugh bought some used timber from architect Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminers’ huts it was a one-room wattle-and-daub structure with a dirt floor. It was so small that the only room he could find for his telephone was on the fork of a tree nearby.5 Over the years the mud-brick house grew to 120 squares in the style now synonymous with Eltham. It had thick adobe walls (sun-dried bricks) made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors with the entire structure made of second-hand materials – most found at wreckers’ yards. Pugh’s first major show in Melbourne in 1957, established him as a distinctive new painter, breaking away from the European tradition ‘yet not closely allied to any particular school of Australian painting’.6 Pugh became internationally known and was awarded the Order of Australia. He won the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times, although he preferred painting the bush and native animals. In 1990 not long before he died, Pugh was named the Australian War Memorial’s official artist at the 75th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Today one of Pugh’s legacies is the Dunmoochin Foundation, which gives seven individual artists or couples and environmental researchers the chance to work in beautiful and peaceful surroundings, usually for a year. By November 2007, more than 80 people had taken part, and the first disabled artist had been chosen to reside in a new studio with disabled access.1 In 1989, not long before Pugh died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 65, he established the Foundation with La Trobe University and the Victorian Conservation Trust now the Trust for Nature. Pugh’s gift to the Australian people – of around 14 hectares of bushland and buildings and about 550 art works – is run by a voluntary board of directors, headed by one of his sons, Shane Pugh. La Trobe University in Victoria stores and curates the art collection and organises its exhibition around Australia.2 The Foundation aims to protect and foster the natural environment and to provide residences, studios and community art facilities at a minimal cost for artists and environmental researchers. They reside at the non-profit organisation for a year at minimal cost. The buildings, some decorated with murals painted by Pugh and including a gallery, were constructed by Pugh, family and friends, with recycled as well as new materials and mud-bricks. The Foundation is inspired by the tradition begun by the Dunmoochin Artists’ Cooperative which formed in the late 1950s as one of the first artistic communes in Australia. Members bought the land collaboratively and built the seven dwellings so that none could overlook another. But, in the late 1960s, the land was split into private land holdings, which ended the cooperative. Dunmoochin attracted visits from the famous artists of the day including guitarists John Williams and Segovia; singer and comedian Rolf Harris; comedian Barry Humphries; and artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and Mirka Mora. A potters’ community, started by Peter and Helen Laycock with Alma Shanahan, held monthly exhibitions in the 1960s, attracting local, interstate and international visitors – with up to 500 attending at a time.3 Most artists sold their properties and moved away. But two of the original artists remained into the new millennium as did relative newcomer Heja Chong who built on Pugh’s property (now owned by the Dunmoochin Foundation). In 1984 Chong brought the 1000-year-old Japanese Bizan pottery method to Dunmoochin. She helped build (with potters from all over Australia) the distinctive Bizan-style kiln, which fires pottery from eight to 14 days in pine timber, to produce the Bizan unglazed and simple subdued style. The kiln, which is rare in Australia, is very large with adjoining interconnected ovens of different sizes, providing different temperatures and firing conditions. Frank Werther, who befriended Pugh as a fellow student at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, built his house off Barreenong Road in 1954. Werther is a painter of the abstract and colourist style and taught art for about 30 years. Like so many in the post-war years in Eltham Shire, as it was called then, Werther built his home in stages using mud-brick and second-hand materials. The L-shaped house is single-storey but two-storey in parts with a corrugated-iron pitched roof. The waterhole used by the Werthers for their water supply is thought to be a former goldmining shaft.4 Alma Shanahan at Barreenong Road was the first to join Pugh around 1953. They also met at the National Gallery Art School and Shanahan at first visited each weekend to work, mainly making mud-bricks. She shared Pugh’s love for the bush, but when their love affair ended, she designed and built her own house a few hundred yards (metres) away. The mud-brick and timber residence, made in stages with local materials, is rectangular, single-storey with a corrugated-iron roof. As a potter, Shanahan did not originally qualify as an official Cooperative member.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, art gallery, clifton pugh, dunmoochin, cottlesbridge, cottles bridge, barreenong road

Built in 1953, the Rice House was leading Melbourne architect Kevin Borland's first commssion and was one of two houses of its kind. The design of the shell-like structure was inspired by the Arch of Ctesiphon, built in the second century south of Baghdad. Cement with a waterproofing agent was applied in layers to a form of regularly spaced timber arches covered in hessian. This ctesiphon system was developed in the United Kingdom by engineer J.H. de Waller in 1947. Commissioned in 1951 by Harrie and Lorna Rice, after Harrie, then an art student, met Borland at The Age Small Homes Service. Borland suggested they buy land in Eltham because at that time it was the only council in Melbourne that would grant a permit for such an innovative house. Covered under Victorian Heritage. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p157 Inspired by an ancient arch in Iraq, a house stands on top of a hill in a private position, off Ryans Road, Eltham. One of only two houses of its kind, it was leading Melbourne architect Kevin Borland’s first commissioned house, which he built in 1953. The shell-like structure, partially screened by giant trees and cacti, was inspired by the Arch of Ctesiphon south of Baghdad, built in the second century.1 Cement with a waterproofing agent was applied in layers to a form of regularly spaced timber arches tightly covered by hessian. This ctesiphon system was developed in the United Kingdom by engineer J H de Waller in 1947. This house was the first of three such structures built in Victoria, of which only one other remains, although substantially altered.2 It is the Wood House and supermarket, at the corner of Cleveland Road and High Street Road, Ashwood, designed by Robin Boyd in 1952. The Rice House demonstrates Kevin Borland’s innovative and experimental work. It is an outstanding example of the post-war period of experimentation in domestic architecture in Melbourne – by Robin Boyd, Kevin Borland and others – for The Age Small Homes Service from 1947 to 1953. This was partly an expression of late-Modernism and also necessitated by the post-war shortage of building materials. In Eltham, the post-war shortage of building materials largely resulted in mud-brick houses. Examples of Borland’s public work include contributions to the Olympic Swimming Pool in Melbourne and the Preshil Junior School in Kew. After more than 50 years of living in the house, Harrie and Lorna Rice still love it. Facing north-east with large windows overlooking the garden and two courtyards, it is well lit and benefits from a through breeze. The couple commissioned the extraordinary house after Harrie, then an art student, met Borland in 1951 at The Age Small Homes Service. Harrie was so impressed by the recently graduated Borland’s enthusiasm, that he asked him to design them an interesting house for a low budget.3 The unusual design presented several hurdles for the young couple before they could construct it. Borland suggested that they buy land in Eltham, because at that time it had the only council in Melbourne that would allow such an innovative house. Another hurdle was to gain finance for this remarkable house. The State Savings Bank Manager refused finance on the grounds that it was ‘unliveable’ and a ‘disgrace’. Fortunately, through a family connection, the couple borrowed money from the National Bank. But they discovered years later, that the bank’s evaluation stated the two ‘concrete sheds’ were of no value!4 The house built in off-white concrete, consists of two sections. The main house has four arches supported by brick and concrete walls that create a series of inter-connected rooms. Inside, the ceiling follows the roofline. Originally this section was only ten square metres, because of building restrictions at the time. But in 1973 Borland added two rooms and a carport. The second structure of two arches was originally a garage and a studio for art teacher Harrie Rice. To accommodate the growing family, in the mid 1950s, Borland converted the second structure into two children’s bedrooms, a kitchenette, a bathroom and a living room. The two structures were originally linked by a covered way of suspended draped-concrete, but this collapsed in the 1980s. The design has several maintenance problems. Cracks developed where two halves of the shells were joined. Then the material sprayed over the cracks became brittle, causing leaks. Fortunately Harrie found another material he could use. The valleys between the arches collect water, requiring annual painting with a waterproof material to prevent leaking. Lorna framed the house with native and exotic plants, which provide privacy and as a bonus, the garden attracted the rare Eltham Copper Butterfly.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham, rice house, ryans road