Brownie Downing ceramics, Australia, 1950-60

Viola Edith (Brownie) Downing, author, artist, illustrator and ceramics decorator was born at Manly, Sydney in 1924, and grew up in a home surrounded by bushland, which inspired her to take an interest in drawing from a young age.

She drew children, small animals flowers and trees from her surrounds, and developed an interest in Aboriginal culture from her father.

After leaving school she studied at Sydney Technical Art School and then worked as a commercial artist, drawing children's fashion in the early 1940s.

After World War II she studied at Julian Ashton's art school and became a full time artist selling both originals and prints throughout Australia. Her work extended to designs for Christmas cards, and pottery decoration. One of her enduring legacies is the compelling naïve charm of the Aboriginal characters decorating ceramic items ranging from porcelain dishes and wall plaques to miniature tea sets.

In more... the 1960s she turned her hand to writing for children, and her first book "Tinka and His Friends", sold 60,000 copies and won The Daily Telegraph Children's Book of the Year Award. She travelled to England to promote the book, and there met and married her second husband, John Mansfield resulting in a new direction in her life.

Mansfield became her co-author and together they travelled the world for many years living in France, Spain, Ireland, Jamaica, the United States, Mexico and Ireland, and afterwards cruising the Mediterranean for twelve years, finally settling on the island of Majorca before moving to Andorra.

She never returned to Australia and died in Andorra in 1995 at the age of 71. less...