Local Artist History – Emerald Community House

Edward Vivian ‘Vance’ Palmer

Edward Vivian ‘Vance’ Palmer (1885-1959) Vance Palmer lived in Emerald in Rose Charman’s cottage with his wife, Nettie, and two daughters Aileen and Helen from 1919 to 1925. His novel Daybreak (1932) recounted the Great Strike at the nearby Nobelius Nursery. Between 1910-15 he spent time in England and France and briefly visited the United […]

Thomas ‘Louis’ Buvelot Esson

Thomas ‘Louis’ Buvelot Esson (1878-1943) Thomas Esson and his wife Hilda spent time in Emerald after their return from Europe and America in 1921. They stayed with writers Vance and Nettie Palmer and formed ‘The Pioneer Players’ a group dedicated to the production and performance of local drama. The group’s first performances were in 1922. […]

Janet Gertrude ‘Nettie’ Palmer

Janet Gertrude ‘Nettie’ Palmer (1885-1964). Nettie Palmer and her writer husband Vance lived in Emerald between 1915-17 and 1919-1925. Nettie believed in the importance of the bush and in cultivating an appreciation of the land. At the time she wrote a literature page for the Argus newspaper and a series of articles by her was […]

Katharine Prichard

Katharine Susannah Prichard (1883-1969) Katharine Prichard lived in Emerald during the First World War from 1916-1919. Her time in the Dandenong’s, spent at Rose Charman’s cottage, brought her into contact with a remarkable group of literary friends. She became an outspoken activist against conscription and the war, a fact made more poignant through having met […]

Joy Hester

Joy St Clair Hester (1920-1960). From 1950 to 1956 Hester lived at Avonsleigh and Upwey in the Dandenong Ranges. Her watercolour and ink Bushfire, Avonsleigh (1955) was created in that time. The reoccurrence of Hodgkin’s disease which had been in remission since diagnosed in 1947 caused her to leave the area for Box Hill where […]

Charles Blackman

Charles Blackman (1928 – ) In late 1954 Blackman moved to Avonsleigh with his wife and poet Barbara Patterson Blackman in a house opposite Joy Hester on the Macclesfield Road. They stayed for six months and his moonlight paintings were inspired by his late-night walks home from town. It was the first time Blackman had […]