Don Fisher

As a youngster I didn’t show much artistic talent, that came later in life. Although my mother and her two sisters were fairly artistic. I became a farmer, although now I only farm a small onion crop. I never realised I wanted to paint until my mate Phil bought a house and there were dilapidated gnomes in the garden. I painrted them up and gave them to my grandchildren. As I painted them I grew more interested in the gnome world and looked into it further. There is a lot more to gnomes than when you look at first glance. So I delved into their world and with my family history of painting, I refurbished and painted a number of gnomes and in the process, heard their stories.
The First Australian Gnome Cricket Team.
These seven Gnomes painted on this bat are some of a team that toured England in the late 1800’s. They heard of the success of the Indigenous team from Harrow in the Western District had when they went to England and decided to follow. They mostly played against Forest Fairies and Hobgoblin teams which were very popular in England at that period.
They were never beaten and came home with the ashes from Robin Hood’s Fire in Sherwood Forest. However, the other 5 Gnomes that made up the team were stolen (kidnapped) from the group and taken to Margaret River in Western Australia, so the team retired. I painted the seven who were left, from their pictures onto this bat.