Jimmy Willing,  The Nimbin GoodTimes

Iwas lucky enough to grow up with a couple of Neville Cayleys hanging in the family home.

It has always amazed me that my father owned these treasures from another time but in the 20th Century they were not considered art, merely scientific drawings!

One of the paintings was of nesting Wonga pigeons but it was the painting ‘Kookaburra Feeding its Young’ (pictured) that etched itself into my mind.

My father loved these paintings, and so did I, so that after his death they were placed in my care. They created a revolution in my work. Everything became covered in birds, paintings, posters, stage sets, and in the case of Nimbin even a whole pub!

Anyway, at right is my ‘Kookaburra Feeding its Young’, unabashedly inspired by my father’s 1897 Neville Cayley.

This article appeared in The Nimbin GoodTimes, August 2024.