Sadly Castlemaine Rock is no more. A lolly made simply of sugar and peppermint and harking back to goldrush days, even it’s small factory in Wesley Hill has been demolished.
Find an article about the demise of the iconic brand here>>
Leslie managed the TR between 1980 and 1999 and then continued on as projectionist and stage lighter for another x years. It was at the end of his time as manager that having kept the place going through many challenges that he self knighted himself for services to the financial sector.
Thompsons Foundry Band (Hall) there was a time when industrial organisations across the world had a band of workers associated and this was the proactice room for the local foundry band for decades. Recently rendered many people are sad no longer used by the band though the band lives on.
Castlemaine Hospital pictures – UPPER one shows the Castlemaine Hospital in Halford Street as it was in 1974 when Leslie drove his Riley to collect his new born son. The site is now used by artists, healing practictioners, artisans and is the home of the best little radio station in the nation Mainfm.
The current hospital painting depicts the very old section of the hospital that predates Halford Street and has been modernised and updated. The addition of the ambulance bay is recent.
In 1973 Les travelled from Castlemaine to attend the Aquarius Festival in Nimbin. There, he illuminated a huge tree with coloured lights as his contribution to the atmosphere.
He also participated in a screen printing workshop where, using rudimentary techniques, he made his one and only screenprint. His intention was to denote the barter economy on site with the cash register symbolising commerce and the fruit and vegetables among the currency used.
The Barter Economy, Leslie Thornton (produced at Nimbin), 1973, Screenprint 1/1 50cm x 37cm
Soldier and Scholar Bookshop at 215 Barker Street, was opened over 20 years ago by Joyce Sanders. She came to Castlemaine after a long time in Canberra and Melbourne, because it reminded her of her native Alabama.
Joyce has sadly packed up and retired in 2022 emptying the building of books. Over the years many locals worried that she would be found crushed to death by a tower of books it was so crammed. Les once visited her and realised that a back room was actually a kitchen. There were books in the oven.
When researching Les’s notebook (which he keeps in his top pocket ands writes his ideas as they come to him, morning, noon or often at night) it was a delight to find a little sketch that might have been the first idea to draw Joyce’s bookshop.
Photos of Joyce and her books by Eliza Tree.
More about the closing down of Joyce’s Bookshop here>>
Leslie Thornton & Jennifer Sharpe*, RedPoles, 2019, 180x110cm Woven Wires.
My Favourite Suit – Red Poles
My favourite suit, tailored in Hong Kong, is cut from the Prince of Wales check fabric. As someone who has done a lot of theatre lighting, the connection between wires and weaving seemed perfectly obvious to me.
My love of the check and lack of weaving skills were well masked by the expertise of Jennifer Sharpe* who based on a small sketch and a brief look at my suit, whipped up a rug far too beautiful for a floor.
The red lines in the weave make my suit and the wall rug in the same way the blue poles did in what proved to be a great investment in Australia’s art collection.
*Jennifer Sharpe worked for many years at the Melbourne Tapestry Workshop. Sadly, Jennifer a former Wesley Hill resident, is deceased.
LAST EDIT: 16/03/2025
Les Thornton is as quintessentially Australian as the pie he painted on the local baker’s shop window (the first time apparently an image had been paired with wording on a sign, in Castlemaine.) Australian in a way that perhaps a tourist wouldn’t recognise – but fellow inhabitants instinctively do. This Australianness is in the way he sees Australia – as a series of shapes that may (or may not, in the case of Tasmania) fit together and his affection, respect – and puzzlement of the landscape. It also manifests in his laconic approach to imagery and the way he describes (or doesn’t) his art.
His wonder at our vastness and unique geography compel him to survey his surroundings and thankfully we are the benefactors of this exploration. His work is unpretentious, humble and doesn’t take itself too seriously. He, like a cheeky rogue Google mapper, zooms in on Australia – showing us that yes, we are important – but not too important to not take the piss out of, using witticism as the Australian way. The further telescopes down to his affection and depiction of local buildings – helping us discern and appreciate our local landscape, in all its gloriousness and familiarity.
Opening
Sat 22 March at 2pm
Opening by Em. Pr. Chris McAuliffe
EMERITUS PROFESSOR,ANU School of Art & Design
Free entry. Opening Hours: Thurs-Sat 11am–4pm, Sun 12pm–4pm.
“Sardonic, ironic, iconic” Suzanne Donisthorpe
“He is an artist always interested in the edge of the world.” Craig McDonald
“He paints the culture of Castlemaine – how it looks and feels – it’s strange little madnesses. …. all roads lead to Castlemaine, sometimes quite literally!” Gary James (Spook)
“His predominantly playful wit takes the familiar and exaggerates it, with the skill of a cartoonist.” David Murray-Smith
“A modern day Bloomsburyist” Linda Heyworth
“He gives us, the viewer, an opportunity to see more than what we would stumble across ourselves. He is the artist as a guide.” Katherine Seppings
“He is our alternative historian – connecting us to place through his art” Judy Laycock
A LOOK AT SOME OF THE ARTWORKS IN THE EXHIBITION HERE>>
An interview with Castlemaine artist and musician Sir Les Thornton by Lucy Armstrong
They were 20 in the 70s and are now 70 in the 20s and they have spent a lifetime making art. Suzanne Donisthorpe asked the artists some of the big questions- is it a privilege or a miracle to still be making art, do they care less or more about the world, are they more philosophical, and what about legacy, regrets and proud moments? And what at the end of day – is art after all?
Sir Leslie Thornton: Art Exhibition Caspa 1998 “Re-making Australia”
In early 2015, the Village Festival began talking with Castlemaine residents who have lived in the town for more than twenty years. Over many cups of tea, the elders of the town have shared a wealth of personal stories about this place: from heart-breaking to heart-warming and from quirky to the profound, these stories are Castlemaine’s hidden history.