NSW bushfires: Parents of acclaimed artists die 11 days apart
Both parents of acclaimed Australian artists Lucy and Anna Culliton have died 11 days apart, just weeks after Lucy evacuated them to her home in Bibbenluke in the Snowy Monaro region of southern NSW.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Both parents of acclaimed Australian artists Lucy and Anna Culliton have died 11 days apart, just weeks after Lucy evacuated them to her home in Bibbenluke in the Snowy Monaro region of southern NSW.
Stephanie (Buff) Culliton, 76, died on December 27 in Canberra Hospital and 77-year-old Tony Culliton -- a prominent figure in the Australian television industry -- died in Bombala Hospital. Both had been unwell for some time.
The couple spent their final days living with Lucy Culliton on her property, Bibbenluke Lodge, after Lucy moved them from their home in Little Hartley, worried about the threat that the Gospers Mountain fire posed to the hilly rural property where they had lived for many years.
The artist also removed many of her valuable paintings from the Little Hartley family home where she had worked in a large, purpose-built studio-shed before moving to Bibbenluke in 2008.
Lucy Culliton’s sister Anna lives in the Blue Mountains. A potter, her Instagram page diarises the lives of the large numbers of baby wombats and kangaroos she raises and adopts after their parents are killed on the roads. Lucy said Anna’s property was out of immediate danger, although “the fires are still burning” so the future could not be guaranteed.
Bibbenluke Lodge is home to many rescue animals too, including a group of baby emus who wander in and around Lucy’s studio. Her paddocks contain retired racehorses and sheep among other animals, and they are all being hand fed as there is no grass and the river on her land stopped running two months ago.
The drought is biting hard, and Culliton said she fears for ember attacks from surrounding fires as well as possible lightning strike that could spark a flame on her land. She and her partner Jamie Morgan-Bruce were remaining on Bibbenluke Lodge in case they need to put out spot fires.
“My scariest day, we sat in my studio in the dark and had dinner, looking out for spot fires,” Lucy said.
The sky in the afternoon had gone black, and then red.
“We thought it was the end of the world. It was too awful. I couldn’t take any photos.”
Bibbenluke Lodge had a “fantastic fire break” around it, the artist said.
Tony Culliton’s final days featured a major highlight. Lucy said her father had long wanted to meet Australian artist Ben Quilty, who lives in Robertson, but a planned get-together had to be cancelled because of the fires. The two men spoke by phone instead.
“Tony and Ben had this most beautiful, long conversation. It was just lovely. He had no idea what a fan Tony was,” Lucy said.
Tony Culliton had worked for many years at Network Seven, where Quilty had been a film editor prior to being able to leave and make a living from his art.
Lucy said Tony had once made a film with Australian journalist John Pilger about Myall Creek, whose indigenous history was last year the subject of a major new painting project by Quilty.
She said the National Film and Sound Archive last year recorded a three-hour interview with Tony about his life and work as a director and producer.
“I’ve just lost my biggest fan,” Culliton said of her father.
She said Stephanie Culliton had gone to art school and worked as an art teacher “for a bit”.
“But really she gave everything to us (the two daughters),” Lucy said.
“She’s the one who encouraged us to paint and make.”
Lucy said her parents were living in Elvina Bay in Pittwater when she was born, but moved to Mount Colah when she was still a baby. The family later lived in Hornsby before settling in Little Hartley.