TOM

My father, Tom Mills, was a noisy man – talking, singing, whistling, hammering nails into things – I never had to ask “is Dad home?” because you could hear him. Tom seldom went unnoticed. This book, however, references his quieter side. Dad was born at Bogan Gate, NSW, and spent his childhood in the tiny rural town of Woodstock, NSW, and although he spent his adult life as a plaster manufacturer and fixer in the Sydney urban environment, his heart was in the bush. Whenever he could he would be out fishing, prawning or just having a chomp on a gum leaf in the bush.

It also references my own love of my father, and his love of his family. Dad saw himself as a provider. From this point of view the natural environment was there to be used so fishing and prawning were part of his ethos of providing for his family, as well as being a leisure activity.

SCRIBBLY GUM

I have always loved the Scribbly Gums. I grew up in Sydney so the first scribbly gums I encountered were Eucalyptus haemastona. As a child I was fascinated and had no idea why all those scribbles were on their creamy grey trunks. It is only now that I’ve become curious that I’ve found out that the marks are created by the larvae of the Ogmograptis or Scribbly Gum moths, of which there are a number of varieties.

I still associate Scribbly Gums with the Sydney area (or the Eucalyptus rossii of the Canberra region where I studied ecology) but I took the photographs for the cyanotypes in this artist book at Wolvi, Qld, or around the Jervis Bay area in NSW so they are more likely Eucalyptus racemosa.

Chatting with Darwin

After visiting the Galapagos Islands I became fascinated with Charles Darwin who had sailed there 167 years before I did. This work references the isolation of long sea passages, intertwined with the isolation of the Galapagos Islands.

The book is 7 metres long when laid out flat, but around 3-4 metres when displayed. Salt and watercolour washed Arches paper was used and the setup of the pages reflects the days Burramys was at sea or in harbour. Handstitching lays out the routes of both Burramys and The Beagle. 

Anyone for a cuppa?

It would be great to be able to sit down with Darwin and have a chat and a cup of tea, but as this was not possible I made us both a small teabag book.  

My Book

My book is a collection of sketches, journal notes, linoprints etc. – the sort of thing a traveler might have in their sketchbook. The teabag pages give a delicious tactile experience.

Darwin’s Book

Sir John Herschel was a friend and mentor to Darwin – so I thought it apt to use his cyanotype process for Darwin’s Book. I was also fascinated by the fact that such a great man as Darwin would forget to label his bird specimens with their island of origin and need to borrow specimens to support his theory of natural selection – so I have given him a collection of labels to mark this oversight.

Journey up the Red Sea

Around 10 years ago I was fortunate to get a grant to go to the McGregor Summer School at Toowoomba to do aquatints with Bernhadine Mueller. The etchings in the above book were produced then – all in a hurry in the workshop with bits and pieces etched right on top of each other as there was a shortage of small etching plates and no easy way to cut the large ones that were available. Some time later the etchings and some extracts from my journal were appropriated for this artist book which is a lovely memory of a rather extraordinary time in my life – sailing in the Red Sea. Cruising the Red Sea is somewhat of a rite of passage and we still remain in touch with the cruising sailors that were there the same year as we were.