The performance project known as 'Two Tall Poppies' was given this name because of two main reasons. First of all, it immediately attracts attention and, of course both of these artists deserved to be given this name. They are great achievers and their work is remarkable. They are viewed as part of our precious heritage.

Nadia is fortunate to have known the composer Miriam Hyde on a personal basis. Unfortunately, the artist/painter Margaret Preston died in 1963.

Both artists were born in Adelaide. Both of these women appealed to Nadia due to their strong personalities, intelligence, their love of nature and most importantly, their creative minds.

What follows is an examination of the life and sublime work of Margaret Preston, who is viewed as Australia's best loved female painter.

A red headed fire-brand, she was both obstinate and outspoken. In her work, she experimented in still-life, wood-cuts of Australian flora and fauna, which delights us with freshness, grace and vigour. Additionally, her Aboriginal works also attract and intrigue us. Margaret Preston was, above all, a very demanding communicator and was introducing art with tremendous zest for over 70 years.

Margaret Rose McPherson (maiden name) was born April 29, 1875 at Port Adelaide. When her family moved to Sydney, she attended Fort Street Girls' School. The headmistress' opinion about Margaret was: "...that she much more interested in drawing than in her lessons." But, Margaret tells the story differently. She said: "Once upon a time, when I was 12 years old, I borrowed my mother's best dinner plates and, painted them balck all over and then, painted white flannel flowers on top. The result, so impressed my mother, that when the initial shock of the loss was over, she said: 'that as the flowers were the image of the natural, I must have talent and therefore, I should be trained properly'".

The family moved to Melbourne, and Margaret began her studies at the prestigious Melbourne National Art Gallery. Two years later, her studies were interrupted by the untimely death of her father at the age of 42, from syphilis. The death had a profound effect on Margaret and could have influenced her against early marriage.

After the death of her mother, she travelled and studied in England, Spain, Italy and France. In Paris, she studied Japanese art, which later influenced her work.

Margaret was 44 years of age when she married William George Preston, who was 38. She gave her age as 36 when she married, an error that was discovered after her death. That subsequently lent an air of mystery to her personality. The couple moved to Mosman in 1920 and remained living there for the duration of their lives. Marriage released Margaret from the need to earn her living and she devoted her life to art.

She became an artist searching for her own style and consistently challenged her own artistic preconceptions. This is evidenced from the remarkable variety of her work. She was very productive and she always saw that her work was promoted, that her articles and illustrations were published.

Margaret found wood-blocking a comfortable kind of craft. She studied the technique of wood-cutting from the son of the great Japanese artist Hiroshige. The art critic for The Sun newspaper referred to her wood-cuttings of 1925 as 'bold and slapdash'. He also noted her 'unsymmetrical jugs and vases' and he was surprised that many of them may seem to be intentionally crude but, the artist was also experimenting with dainty nudes, views of Sydney Harbour, Mosman, and especially birds and flowers.

She was vigorously protective of her works and even jealous of other artists. Lionel Lindsay regarded her as a raging creature who burns her work when it does not sell. There was an incident at the NSW Gallery during one of the exhibitions when Margaret threw a plate of cakes at Miss procter, who was a painter, and a beatiful woman. The story is as follows:
"Well, have the trustees been here?" asked Margaret
"Yes... they have", Miss Proctor replied, rather nervously
"Did they buy anything?" continued Margaret
"Yes... they bought one of mine".
Margaret was holding a box of cakes for afternoon tea. She threw them at the astonished woman and then, turned on her heels, saying: "There is your afternoon tea".

In 1927, there was a special issue printed as a tribute to her work. The editorial spoke of her strength, vitality and originality. She has gradually developed a style of her own.

Margaret and her husband did a lot of travelling, to various places like New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan and the United States. At home, they travelled in Queensland and lived in the bush for a period of 3 years. She was looking for a new form of art that would suggest Australia. She had passion and a need to develop truly indigenous Australian art. Margaret recognised the power of such motivation and explained why art is so important to the people. She said: "Through art, it is possible to say things that cannot easily be put into words".

"Aboriginal art implies, suggests, represents and resonates relationships. The traditional landscape art of the desert people is complex". In 1941, Margaret wrote: 'I am humbly trying to follow them in an attempt to know the truth and paint it, and, so help to make a national art for Australia'.

In 1953, she painted stencil prints on religious themes. They were interpreted in a characteristically Australian way. Such examples were 'Noah's Ark', 'The Expulsion' and 'The Garden of Eden'. She liked these works because they had real Australian feeling. She said: "...that the 'Garden of Eden' is obviously here in Australia, the oldest know land of all". Preston acknowledged that Australia has a unique history, stretching back to the Dreamtime, and contains our unique animals and wonderful wild flowers, like the Sturt's Desert Pea, Flannel Flower, the Koala, Kangaroo, Emu, and Echidna, in addition to the wide variety of birds and fish. She clearly rejoiced in including many of these creatures in 'The Garden of Eden'.

In the last decade of her life, Margaret Preston showed signs of having lost some of her powers of concentration, thereby needing constant attention. Margaret passed away at a private hospital in Mosman on May 28, 1963.

Her dynamic character required many different forms of expression in a career that spanned over 70 years, leaving a tremendous heritage, both for us and generations to come.

Continue to 'Two Tall Poppies' with Miriam Hyde