Latest news with #Dreamtime
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Through his eyes: Corban Clause Williams brings his artwork to a new audience
In the desert of northern central Western Australia, north-east of Kumpupirntily (Lake Disappointment), is an ancient water hole. For thousands of years, the Martu people have used this water source, known as Kaalpa, for nourishment and cultural practice as they have walked and hunted. It's from here that Corban Clause Williams's story comes – and now it will be told to a new audience. Williams is a young Martu man living in Newman, in the Pilbara. As well as working as an on-Country ranger, he is an acclaimed artist and part of the Martumili Artists group. He learnt from his nana, who would paint on one side of a canvas while he experimented on the other. Photograph: Martumili Artists 'Watching her and doing it, she would tell me to sit there and I was painting with her,' he says. 'She was telling me to do it on that side, do it yourself.' Each one of Williams's paintings tells the story of pujimanpa – desert dwellers – who spent their lives around Kaalpa. By including symbols from the land such as yapu (rocks), tuwa (sandhills) and karru (creek), Williams says he's creating something like a map of Martu Country, tracing journeys taken by the old people. Making his art, he says, creates an opportunity to share stories with people who see the paintings. When visitors attend galleries or exhibitions and meet an artist such as Williams, they can ask questions and learn more about the Martu and the Dreamtime. 'The person [viewing the artwork] can know and understand properly about the painting,' Williams says. His connection to Country exists in all of his paintings. 'If you like painting in the art centre in Newman,' he says, 'you start painting your Country and think about your ngurra [your Country]. I see this connection a lot when people aren't on Country – they paint about their ngurra so that they can reconnect to Country.' Williams's art first caught the attention of Specsavers in 2023, when his fellow Martumili artist, Helen Dale Samson, had her art featured on a limited-edition range of eyewear. When Specsavers was looking for an artist for its newest range, Williams stood out for his youthful, contemporary storytelling. The range is part of Specsavers' partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are about three times more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to experience vision loss and blindness. To fight this inequity, Specsavers has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to create ranges of glasses that support the foundation. Now in its ninth year, the initiative will feature Williams's story of Kaalpa. '[It's] something different,' Williams says. 'My eyes are right, but in the future I might need them.' The process began with selecting a shortlist of paintings that Williams felt were his strongest. From there, he worked with Specsavers on the composition and how they would appear on the glasses. With the artwork selected, Williams – a self-confessed fashionista – was invited to Specsavers in Perth, where he tried on and chose from prototypes that would become his own limited-edition range. At every step, Specsavers has collaborated with Martumili Artists and Williams. He travelled to Melbourne for the campaign production, meeting the photographer and videographer, and spending the day on location. Williams was interviewed about his work and the stories of Kaalpa. When the range launched on 10 July, he was there to enjoy the celebrations. He's proud to be sharing the stories of his old people and the land they walked. 'When you're on Country it makes you pukurlpa,' says Williams, referring to the sense of pride and happiness many of the Martumili artists share. 'When you stay in towns and city too much, and you say, I want to go back home, you feel happy.' Martu paintings are an important way of passing stories from one generation to the next, and giving others a way to understand them. Now, they also provide a way to create fairer access to sight. Specsavers hopes this year's glasses will once again generate a significant contribution to The Fred Hollows Foundation. For every pair sold, $25 will be donated to support the foundation's efforts to restore sight, improve access to care, and build a workforce of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to ensure eye health services are culturally appropriate. 'Wearing them will make you happy,' Williams says, referring to his kuru glass – a mixture of Martu and English meaning 'eye glass'. 'Strangers that don't know who I am rock up and I say, hey, I designed that. 'Sometimes I go out on Country and paint on Country. I come back here [to Newman] and end up doing a solo show or an exhibition. It all goes around.' Explore the limited-edition Specsavers x Fred Hollows range.
National Geographic
14-07-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
Australia's famous pink lakes are disappearing
Tiny extremophiles give the salty lakes their rosy hue, but over-mining and climate change are threatening their existence. Pink Lake, Hutt Lagoon, Western Australia, 2020. Beside the ochre-colored gorges and turquoise coastlines of Western Australia lies a surprising hue: fuchsia pink. The state's pink salt lakes have been a startling part of the landscape for thousands of years. They've appeared in Dreamtime stories and family vacation photos (though in the age before digital photographs, says Tilo Massenbauer, an applied environmental scientist who has studied the pink lakes, if visitors took their film to be developed outside of Western Australia, the technician would say the machine was broken, the color settings off, otherwise how could a lake be that pink?). More recently, the pink lakes have featured in social media posts, fashion ads and music videos (Mandopop king Jay Chou filmed his Pink Ocean track at Hutt Lagoon). But two of Western Australia's most iconic pink lakes have lost their distinctive color over the last 20 years because of climate change and resource over-extraction. Yet experts believe the lakes can bloom pink once again through both targeted interventions and letting nature run its course. Pink Lake, Hutt Lagoon, Western Australia, March 2025. The pink hue is due to the presence of a carotenoid-producing algae, Dunaliella salina. Photograph by Daniela Tommasi Australia is studded with salt lakes in a rainbow of hues—the products of geological events spanning deep time. River systems once criss-crossed the continent and the scars of these ancient systems can still be seen from the air. But the rivers stopped flowing roughly 15 million years ago. Mega-lakes formed inside the river channels and then slowly contracted. Over time, only pockets of water remained. These pockets developed into salt lakes that exist today in a constant state of flux, disappearing and reappearing with changes in rainfall and salinity. A salt lake can sit dry for more than a decade then suddenly flourish after a heavy rainfall. 'Salt lakes don't make sense to humans,' says Dr. Angus Lawrie, a conservation biologist at Curtin University in Perth. 'They don't operate on a time scale we understand, and so we often neglect them as important ecosystems. But their potential as a productive, biodiverse environment is massive when it's realized.' Lawrie points to the role of salt lakes as feeding grounds for nomadic and migratory birds like banded stilts and red-neck avocets, and the lakes are home to an array of invertebrate fauna like brine shrimp and the halophilic gastropod genus Coxiella, commonly called salt lake snails. Western Australia's salt lakes have even been studied to understand the potential for life on Mars. 'They produce some of the toughest organisms on the planet,' he says. 'But even though these organisms have evolved to be very tough, they're still at risk.' Their arch-nemesis? 'As with most things, it's humans.' Where guests are guardians (Why are pinker flamingos more aggressive?) High salinity is not the only factor that creates the pink hue of the lakes. Mining operations and heavy rainfall events have impacted the ecosystems of these lakes and have altered their color from pink to grey-blue. Photograph by Daniela Tommasi (Top) (Left) and Photograph by Daniela Tommasi (Bottom) (Right) Australia's salt lakes present in a kaleidoscope of colors. Some are luminescent yellow, some are persimmon-orange and some—the ones with the most extreme conditions—are neon pink. That pink color is the product of a pair of extremophiles: Dunaliella salina, a type of microalga, and Salinibacter ruber, a halophilic bacterium. When exposed to sunlight, these organisms produce beta-carotene—the same pigment that gives carrots, crayfish and flamingos their distinctive color. Beta-carotene protects these organisms from the intense ultraviolet light of the Australian sun and produces energy through a process called carotenoid biosynthesis. This allows them to outcompete green photosynthesizing organisms for the limited nutrients present in pink lakes. As extremophiles, D. salina and S. ruber survive in conditions where most organisms can't. That's why they flourish in the bright, hot, hypersaline lakes of Western Australia. But introduce what would be considered more favorable conditions for many organisms—plenty of fresh water and nutrients—and their levels plummet. And, with them, the striking pink color of the lake. That's what happened in the early aughts when Western Australia's most famous salt lake—Pink Lake, outside of Esperance, along the southern coast of the state—lost its distinctive color after the lake was over-mined for salt. Used as table salt, in salt licks on cattle and sheep stations, and to preserve meat and hides, the salt from Pink Lake had been mined since the end of the 1800s. But its supply eventually petered out. (How Aboriginal people are using tourism to tell their stories in Western Australia) Over-extraction reduced the lake's salinity, and its salt-loving extremophiles lost their biological footing to green photosynthesizing organisms like blue-green bacteria and the Navicula genus of diatom. The lake turned a shade of blue-gray in the early 2000s and has stayed that way ever since. But word hasn't reached everyone. Caravans of tourists are still disappointed each year after trying to catch a glimpse of the famous Pink Lake. They drive dumbfounded down Pink Lake Road, past the Pink Lake IGA grocery store and the Pink Lake Golf Course, wondering what all the fuss is about. Locals have even lobbied for the lake to be renamed. Detail of Pink Lake, Hutt Lagoon, Western Australia, March, 2025. The edges of the lagoon often appear white and crystalized due to its high salt content. Photograph by Daniela Tommasi And it's not the only pink lake in Western Australia to go blue. Earlier this year, Lake Hillier—situated off the coast of Esperance on Middle Island, part of the Recherche Archipelago—lost its bubblegum blush. This time the change in color was caused by an unprecedented rainfall event which dropped large amounts of freshwater onto the lake, lowering its salinity and allowing green photosynthesizing organisms to outcompete the extremophiles. Scientists believe the rainfall event to be the product of human-created climate change. Yet there is hope from both nature and humans. Environmental scientist Massenbauer, who is based in Esperance and who remembers his nan painting Pink Lake when it was still rosy, believes the natural process of shifting levels of salinity will turn Lake Hillier pink again. He estimates a five to 10-year time horizon. But for Pink Lake, Massenbauer says more direct human efforts are required. Nature would eventually turn the lake pink again, he believes, but it could take more than 1,000 years. Thankfully, Massenbauer has a plan. Esperance's Pink Lake sits at the end of a chain of salt lakes—remnants of an ancient riverbed. Its neighbor, Lake Warden, has an overabundance of what Pink Lake needs: salt. Roughly half-a-million tons of excess salt, accumulated as a by-product of nearby agricultural operations. Massenbauer believes Lake Warden's salt could be pumped into Pink Lake, returning it to pre-mining levels. An effort is already underway to make this happen. Massenbauer is part of a team of scientists contracted by the Shire of Esperance to determine the feasibility of moving enough salt from Lake Warden to turn Pink Lake pink again. He estimates a full salt—and pink tone—recovery in less than a decade if the project goes forward. (Hunting for shipwrecks off Western Australia's coast) Salt Lakes, Hutt Lagoon, Western Australia. This processing plant is sustainably harvesting natural beta-carotene from pink lake water. Photograph by Daniela Tommasi Western Australia's pink lakes tell the story of climate change and excessive resource extraction in a way humans can see. So often, environmental problems are only revealed in incremental changes. They take generations to play out, which makes them easier to deny and harder to address. But as the vibrant color of these iconic pink lakes fades away, it offers visually powerful evidence that the system is out of balance. And pink lakes are not unique to Western Australia. They're spread across six continents—from Lac Rose in Senegal to the Laguna Colorada in Bolivia to Masazirgol in Azerbaijan—where they serve as important visual barometers of the human effect on the landscape. Dr. Nik Callow, a hydrologist at the University of Western Australia's School of Agriculture and Environment, believes what's happening with Western Australia's pink lakes is an empowering example of how humans can go from breaking things to trying to fix them. 'We had an age of development—the industrialization era—where humans were focused on conquering nature and the extractive use of natural resources,' Callow says. 'Now we're attempting to shift into an age of repair.'
The Advertiser
12-07-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Star Bomber badly injured in Richmond's upset win
Richmond have snapped a seven-game losing streak, stunning Essendon by nine points in an MCG scrap where the Bombers lost star ball-winner Nic Martin to a season-ending knee injury. In arguably the lowest-quality match of the season on Saturday, the Tigers failed to score a goal in the second and third quarters, but still managed to secure their fourth win of the season. A clutch goal from Jacob Hopper put Richmond in front midway through the final term, setting up the 6.10 (46) to 4.13 (37) victory. It was the rebuilding Tigers' first win since beating lowly West Coast on May 11. After each team kicked three goals in the opening quarter, the standard of the match collapsed dramatically. Essendon kicked the only goal across the second and third quarters as both teams repeatedly butchered the ball. No team scored a goal from Richmond ace Jayden Short's major late in the first quarter until midway through the third term, when Essendon young gun Archer May converted a free kick. "It wasn't the prettiest game, but when we're sitting where we are are and what we're going through on our build, we'll take these wins and celebrate them, because they're really important for our group," Richmond coach Adem Yze said. Leading by seven points at the final change, Essendon will be ruing a missed opportunity, but also devastated for Martin who has "almost certainly" ruptured his ACL. The 24-year-old was shoved over the boundary line by Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell, before landing awkwardly. He was subbed off after hurting his right knee midway through the first quarter Martin, who was best on ground when Essendon defeated the Tigers in their Dreamtime clash two months ago, looked shattered as he was assessed by medical staff in the rooms. He sat on the bench for the rest of the match, making his way out to the three-quarter time huddle on crutches. Essendon coach Brad Scott is fearing the worst for Martin, continuing a miserable run with injury as they are already missing eight of their best team. Six Bombers, including playmakers Sam Draper, Jye Caldwell and Zach Reid, have already been ruled out for the season. The Bombers have started investigating why so many players are breaking down, many of them due to repeated soft-tissue injuries. If scans confirm Essendon's fears, Martin will become the fourth Bombers player to injure his ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards. Tigers star Tim Taranto stood out in a scrappy contest with 34 touches and a goal, while Essendon captain Zach Merrett battled valiantly with 31 possessions. "It was clearly a terrible game," Scott said. "The second quarter probably summed it up a little bit. "It doesn't mean terrible effort, it just means a comedy of errors." It was Essendon's sixth straight loss, ahead of a Marvel Stadium date with surging GWS on Thursday night. Richmond have snapped a seven-game losing streak, stunning Essendon by nine points in an MCG scrap where the Bombers lost star ball-winner Nic Martin to a season-ending knee injury. In arguably the lowest-quality match of the season on Saturday, the Tigers failed to score a goal in the second and third quarters, but still managed to secure their fourth win of the season. A clutch goal from Jacob Hopper put Richmond in front midway through the final term, setting up the 6.10 (46) to 4.13 (37) victory. It was the rebuilding Tigers' first win since beating lowly West Coast on May 11. After each team kicked three goals in the opening quarter, the standard of the match collapsed dramatically. Essendon kicked the only goal across the second and third quarters as both teams repeatedly butchered the ball. No team scored a goal from Richmond ace Jayden Short's major late in the first quarter until midway through the third term, when Essendon young gun Archer May converted a free kick. "It wasn't the prettiest game, but when we're sitting where we are are and what we're going through on our build, we'll take these wins and celebrate them, because they're really important for our group," Richmond coach Adem Yze said. Leading by seven points at the final change, Essendon will be ruing a missed opportunity, but also devastated for Martin who has "almost certainly" ruptured his ACL. The 24-year-old was shoved over the boundary line by Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell, before landing awkwardly. He was subbed off after hurting his right knee midway through the first quarter Martin, who was best on ground when Essendon defeated the Tigers in their Dreamtime clash two months ago, looked shattered as he was assessed by medical staff in the rooms. He sat on the bench for the rest of the match, making his way out to the three-quarter time huddle on crutches. Essendon coach Brad Scott is fearing the worst for Martin, continuing a miserable run with injury as they are already missing eight of their best team. Six Bombers, including playmakers Sam Draper, Jye Caldwell and Zach Reid, have already been ruled out for the season. The Bombers have started investigating why so many players are breaking down, many of them due to repeated soft-tissue injuries. If scans confirm Essendon's fears, Martin will become the fourth Bombers player to injure his ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards. Tigers star Tim Taranto stood out in a scrappy contest with 34 touches and a goal, while Essendon captain Zach Merrett battled valiantly with 31 possessions. "It was clearly a terrible game," Scott said. "The second quarter probably summed it up a little bit. "It doesn't mean terrible effort, it just means a comedy of errors." It was Essendon's sixth straight loss, ahead of a Marvel Stadium date with surging GWS on Thursday night. Richmond have snapped a seven-game losing streak, stunning Essendon by nine points in an MCG scrap where the Bombers lost star ball-winner Nic Martin to a season-ending knee injury. In arguably the lowest-quality match of the season on Saturday, the Tigers failed to score a goal in the second and third quarters, but still managed to secure their fourth win of the season. A clutch goal from Jacob Hopper put Richmond in front midway through the final term, setting up the 6.10 (46) to 4.13 (37) victory. It was the rebuilding Tigers' first win since beating lowly West Coast on May 11. After each team kicked three goals in the opening quarter, the standard of the match collapsed dramatically. Essendon kicked the only goal across the second and third quarters as both teams repeatedly butchered the ball. No team scored a goal from Richmond ace Jayden Short's major late in the first quarter until midway through the third term, when Essendon young gun Archer May converted a free kick. "It wasn't the prettiest game, but when we're sitting where we are are and what we're going through on our build, we'll take these wins and celebrate them, because they're really important for our group," Richmond coach Adem Yze said. Leading by seven points at the final change, Essendon will be ruing a missed opportunity, but also devastated for Martin who has "almost certainly" ruptured his ACL. The 24-year-old was shoved over the boundary line by Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell, before landing awkwardly. He was subbed off after hurting his right knee midway through the first quarter Martin, who was best on ground when Essendon defeated the Tigers in their Dreamtime clash two months ago, looked shattered as he was assessed by medical staff in the rooms. He sat on the bench for the rest of the match, making his way out to the three-quarter time huddle on crutches. Essendon coach Brad Scott is fearing the worst for Martin, continuing a miserable run with injury as they are already missing eight of their best team. Six Bombers, including playmakers Sam Draper, Jye Caldwell and Zach Reid, have already been ruled out for the season. The Bombers have started investigating why so many players are breaking down, many of them due to repeated soft-tissue injuries. If scans confirm Essendon's fears, Martin will become the fourth Bombers player to injure his ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards. Tigers star Tim Taranto stood out in a scrappy contest with 34 touches and a goal, while Essendon captain Zach Merrett battled valiantly with 31 possessions. "It was clearly a terrible game," Scott said. "The second quarter probably summed it up a little bit. "It doesn't mean terrible effort, it just means a comedy of errors." It was Essendon's sixth straight loss, ahead of a Marvel Stadium date with surging GWS on Thursday night.
Perth Now
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Star Bomber badly injured in Richmond's upset win
Richmond have snapped a seven-game losing streak, coming from behind to stun Essendon by nine points in an MCG scrap where the Bombers lost star ball-winner Nic Martin to a knee injury. In arguably the lowest-quality match of the season, the Tigers failed to score a goal in the second and third quarters, but still managed to secure their fourth win of the season. A clutch goal from Jacob Hopper put Richmond in front midway through the final term, setting up the 6.10 (46) to 4.13 (37) victory. It was the rebuilding Tigers' first win since beating lowly West Coast on May 11. After each team kicked three goals in the opening quarter, the standard of the match collapsed dramatically. Essendon kicked the only goal across the second and third quarters as both teams repeatedly butchered the ball. No team scored a goal from Richmond ace Jayden Short's major late in the first quarter until midway through the third term, when Essendon young gun Archer May converted a free kick. Leading by seven points at the final change, Essendon will be ruing a missed opportunity, but also sweating on scans to Martin. The 24-year-old was shoved over the boundary line by Richmond forward Rhyan Mansell, before landing awkwardly. He was subbed off after hurting his right knee midway through the first quarter Martin, who was best on ground when Essendon defeated the Tigers in their Dreamtime clash two months ago, looked shattered as he was assessed by medical staff in the rooms. He sat on the bench for the rest of the match, making his way out to the three-quarter time huddle on crutches. Essendon were tight-lipped on the severity of Martin's injury, but aren't ruling out an ACL. It continues a miserable run with injury for Essendon, who have blooded 12 debutants this season. Six Bombers, including playmakers Sam Draper, Jye Caldwell and Zach Reid, have already been ruled out for the season. The Bombers have started investigating why so many players are breaking down, many of them due to repeated soft-tissue injuries. Tigers star Tim Taranto stood out in a scrappy contest with 34 touches and a goal, while Essendon captain Zach Merrett battled valiantly with 31 possessions. It was Essendon's sixth straight loss, ahead of a Marvel Stadium date with surging GWS on Thursday night.
Sydney Morning Herald
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Where the cheese was: The real story behind Australia's foul-mouthed polymath
Peter Russell-Clarke, the neckerchief-clad larrikin who became an unexpected fixture in Australian lounge rooms and taught a generation how to cook long before MasterChef, has died aged 89. Russell-Clarke was the unruliest of media pioneers – a bona fide polymath whose flair for cooking was matched only by his biting political cartoons and a sharp tongue that went gloriously rogue in a now-legendary bloopers reel, long before the internet invented 'going viral'. With a trademark beret, stained smock, and a tea towel thrown over one shoulder, he was never just a cook. He was a storyteller. A painter. A provocateur. A genuine original. The sort who could poach an egg and puncture a prime minister's ego in the same five-minute segment. A familiar face on television throughout the 1980s and early '90s, Russell-Clarke fronted more than 900 episodes of Come and Get It on the ABC. He showed generations of Australians how to toast herbs and cook chops on residual heat, and became inextricably linked with dairy marketing via a single immortal phrase: 'Where's the cheese?' Yet, to reduce his life to a catchcry would be like calling Michelangelo a ceiling painter. Russell-Clarke was nothing less than a renaissance man with an Australian accent and a foul mouth. He was a culinary educator, but also a talented illustrator, prolific writer, advertising guru, political cartoonist, restaurateur and satirist. He was also a wine blender and a UN food ambassador. A man who once painted Dreamtime stories with Aboriginal elders in Far North Queensland and later cooked a jubilee dinner for the then Prince Charles. Born in Ballarat in 1935, Russell-Clarke's early life was marked by instability. His father, a defrocked Anglican minister, and his dressmaker mother, sent him to a Catholic boarding school in Bowral, NSW, 'to get back at the Anglicans', but didn't bother paying the fees. His childhood, shaped by alcohol-affected parents and stints in foster care, was anything but linear. At one point, he lived with a Chinese-Australian family who taught him to cook banquet-style meals and introduced him to Eastern flavours. He would later claim these early culinary lessons formed the backbone of his intuitive, nose-first approach to food. It is difficult to know whether all his tales were true or had added garnish. He briefly lived on Melbourne's streets, scrounging behind Bourke Street institutions like Florentino. Even then, his standards were high. He once said he'd written a letter to the chef, complaining that a discarded fish had freezer burn. 'I'm buggered if I know how long I existed like that, but it was a while. Good times, it made you lose weight!' he recalled in an interview years later. That mix of refinement and irreverence would become his signature. By his late teens, Russell-Clarke was working as a junior artist for one of Australia's top advertising agencies. His job, initially, was fetching lunches. But soon he was freelancing as an illustrator and food consultant – two disciplines he would blend with great success. He went on to become political cartoonist for the Melbourne Herald, where he drew the comic strip Ben Bowyang and skewered public figures with glee and accuracy. Loading At the same time, he began illustrating for Shell, Mobil, Ford, and even Boeing – work that would take him across the globe and into the homes of corporate high-flyers. But it was food, that always kept calling him back. Russell-Clarke ran one of Melbourne's most popular restaurants, a no‑name, no‑menu venue in Carlton, often booked out 18 months in advance. Again, Charles came calling and, reportedly, he told him to 'bugger off' because he was fully booked. 'I cooked a Silver Jubilee dinner for him and the only reason they chose me is that they knew they could get away with not paying for the meal,' he once said. 'The place was well ahead of its time, like a modern pop‑up. You just came and got whatever there was. It's just too hard if someone orders off the menu.' He wrote, illustrated, or ghostwrote 35 books – including 25 cookbooks and an encyclopaedia of food. He was also, at various times, food editor for New Idea, Woman's Day, The Age, and The Daily Mirror. For 27 years, he was the face of the Australian Dairy Corporation and the Egg Board, starring in TV commercials he often wrote and directed himself. Those of a certain age will remember him best as the five-minute man on ABC. Come and Get It, which aired just before The Goodies or Inspector Gadget, delivered succinct recipes in an unmistakable Russell-Clarke tone: warm, matey, occasionally bemused. 'G'day!' he'd begin, and off he'd go – chatting about burnt herbs or properly cooking tomatoes ('you release a perfume') before wrapping up with 'you beaut!' and a cheeky grin. Behind the scenes, he was anything but tame. The infamous blooper reel – first passed around on email and then eventually YouTube – revealed a man unafraid to unleash torrents of profanity, frustration, and wit. The contrast between the polished, public Russell-Clarke and the mercurial off-air version only deepened public affection. Even in his later years, battered by health challenges – a heart attack, stroke, and cancer diagnosis – Russell-Clarke's energy remained fierce. Living with his wife of six decades, Jan, in Tooborac, north of Melbourne, he still cooked, still painted, and still spoke with vision-impaired cooking enthusiasts about low-heat techniques. He insisted that blindness needn't be a barrier to kitchen excellence – 'It should make you a better cook,' he said. 'You do it gently, and slowly. Like making love.' That gentleness wasn't always evident in his professional life. He could be abrasive, outrageous and contradictory. But there was wisdom in the way he treated food. A lamb chop deserved your attention. Herbs were to be toasted and respected. Food, for Russell-Clarke, was not just sustenance but story, art, politics, and theatre. 'There was nearly a war over Brussels sprouts, but the King of Brussels saved the day by telling the King of England how to cook them properly,' he once told a young reporter. 'I don't know if that story's true or not, but it sounds good.' His art reflected that same narrative sensibility. He painted for commercial clients, for federal commissions, for himself. He exhibited widely around Australia and internationally, owning his own Soho Galleries on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula and completing a 10-storey mural series for a Lygon Street building – from rabbits underground to pigeons in the sky. His cello paintings, inspired by musical theatre pieces he composed, portrayed instruments as people: sinuous, playful, human. In 2004, the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra requested a self-portrait for one of its exhibitions. He obliged with a piece that was part man, part mirth. After losing his home in a devastating fire while overseas, Russell-Clarke did what he always did – started again. Fifty paintings were destroyed. Four finished books went up in smoke. He said it was a blessing. 'The first book I've rewritten is much better,' he shrugged. 'I'm singing and dancing.' He famously called himself a 'ratbag,' a label friends, fans and colleagues endorsed with affection. He poked fun at TV chefs who embarrassed contestants, he mocked advertisers who softened his language, and he laughed when strangers asked him, decades later, 'Where's the cheese?' Russell-Clarke didn't suffer fools, food snobs, or faddish TV formats. When asked to relaunch Come and Get It, he declined after a young producer told him they'd need to modernise the format. 'I told her to stick it and hung up,' he said flatly. He was married to Jan, a former dancer and his best mate of more than 65 years. 'Without her, I'd be a bit buggered,' he said. 'She does all the bookwork; otherwise I'd be in jail.' They had two children – Peter Jr, who for decades was a senior Apple designer in the US, and Wendy, a choreographer – and three grandchildren. When asked recently how he'd like to be remembered, Russell-Clarke, ever the storyteller had one final punchline ready: 'Having a gravestone with your name on it is bullshit. Who gives a stuff whether you lived or died, really? You don't need to be read about on a piece of stone.' 'I won't have a funeral. I'll probably jump off the West Gate Bridge with a candle up my bottom!' He lived as he cooked: with flair, feeling, and zero fear. He will be remembered not just as a chef, not just as a cartoonist, but as an Australian original whose voice – booming, bellowing, or softly humming over a stove – echoed far beyond the kitchen.
