Leslie has long painted Australia – being attracted to the shape of the continenet yet disturbed by the overall design in which Tasmania just simply looks like an error. He is constantly trying to resolve this design dilemma.
The District Map should not necessarily be relied on for clear directions but stands proudly between the Castlemaine Koalas on the corner of Victory Park closest to Forrest and Barker Sreet.
Hall Street residence – Les was gardener and when asked 50 years later to paint the house he did so as it was when he was the gardener.
The Comfort Station once stood proud in Victory Park but was demolished to make way for the Ray Bradfield Room.
The Pie Ship or McShanag’s is one of Castlemaine’s most talked about shop windows. Leslie Thornton was commissioned to paint a decorative motif to be placed centrally in the window in 1978. This decal reamined until the window was broken in 2022, so sadly the image is no more and the window is even more bland than it was before.
During COVID lockdowns some generous spirited person or people unknown painted added cheer to the Chewton Bridge delighting locals during their short permited forays to the shops and horrifying the road authorities.
The bridge was restored to it’s former white, much to the constenation of locals.
This started a volley of painting, restoring and painting again. Les captured three iterations of the story.
Located on Moreton Bay in the suburb of Wynnum Central, 69 Hutton Avenue is the house in which Les grew up in Brisbane. The recent Cyclone Alfred was a reminder that 50 years ago the roof of this house was blown off by an anonymous cyclone.
They were not named in those days. Although exaggerated by the artist, the family home was one of the last in the street to succumb to subdivision and multiple dwellings. There are now two large houses where this one stood on its large block.
2017 Hot Dog Stand Leslie Thornton
When Leslie first moved to Castlemaine in the early 1970s he had a hot dog stand at the then nascent Wesley Hill Market. He still loves them and was delighted when this one popped up for a while in Barker Street, outside PJ Tyres.
Grandparents Farm was located where the main street of Woodford is now – location of the famous folk festival
When the Inconvenience Store first opened it branded itself as a Convenience Store. The problem for Les was as Manager of the Theatre Royal it was never open when he was on his way home after a late night disco or musical event. Hence he renamed it for being anything but convenient.