Following on with our theme of Australia related stories that Barbara Dixon inspired, Margaret Thomas surprised us with the intriguing provenance of a drawing that has hung in her hallway for the last 40 years.

Margaret knew that her Aunt Nancy (circled) had married an artist and moved to Australia in the 1930s but knew little of the life they led there. In recent years on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, she was browsing through a guide book when to her surprise she found that a painting which has been widely reproduced, appropriated and copied and is a big seller on the postcard stands at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, was actually the work of her Uncle Charles!

Margaret later discovered that Charles Meere’s work had been chosen to celebrate two very important occasions in Australian history.

The first was a poster marking the celebration of two hundred years of European settlement in 1938. The second was the inclusion of Australian Beach Pattern in the 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony programme.

The drawing signed by Charles Meere and given to Margaret by her cousin, the artist’s daughter, has since had a little more attention than it has received in the last forty years!

At the same meeting, Rosemary Wilson talked about Book Aid International: one of our chosen International charities. It was started by the wife of the British Governor of the Bahamas in 1954 and was at first called the Ranfurly Library after it’s founder Lady Ranfurly.

They do a tremendous amount of good work throughout the world helping in the education of countless people so that they can reshape their lives. As a club, we have raised funds for this cause for many years, mainly through the sale of books at Club meetings. Rosemary wanted to remind us what a great organisation it is and hopefully, we will be able to resume our book stall soon.