An Adorable Lioness

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 August 1928, Page 9

An Adorable Lioness

“ The Perfect Pet ” Says American Artist 24 Countries for Honeymoon

“An adorable Royal African lioness, seven feet long from nose to tail tip” —this is Mrs. John Blomshield’s idea of the perfect pet!

“1 bought her when- I was in South Africa. She was no ordinary circus lion. She was only seven months old then, and you would not believe what a daiding she was. Soft and warin, and playful like a kitten. We called her Nanette. When I got her home I kept her in the empty horse box in my stables. She was not a bit dangerous, because she at 201 b of meat a day, so she was always too comfortable and contented to do any harm.. But one day she accidentally caught her claw in my wrist, and people warned me that after that she would be too dangerous to play with.”

Unfortunately, everybody does not share the same opinion of the “adorableness of lionesses, so when the neighbours became restive the police decided that Nanette was to live In less unconventional quarters, and mistress and pet were parted. Mrs. Blomshield, who passed through Sydney during the week with her husband, on her way to Manila and Singapore, is an American, and an artist, (says a writer in the Sydney “Sun”). Her father was an architect, and her uncle, Mr. Cass Gilbert, built the Wool worth Building. Small and Sparkling

Some people would apply to her, without hesitation, the same adjective that she used for Nanette. Small and lithe and sparkling, with a soft voice and a. liquid laugh, she appears so happy that she has lots of joy <o spare for others. She is a portraitpainter, and a full-length portrait of

Tarzan Larkin, a well known American boxer, is among her works. Lady Diapa Manners and T. P. O’Connor have been among her husband’s sitters.

“I was married a year ago in my own studio at Woodstock, the artists’ colony of New York. I was married in a red velvet frock, with a real lace collar. There was not time to get anything more conventional, as we made up our minds only half an hour

before the ceremony. Straight after the wedding we visited 24 countries for our honeymoon.” Besides the art. centres of Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Blomshield chose the unusual. Setting out from Jerusalem, with Arab guides, they visited Petra, “the rose red city," long known only to the Arabs and archaeologists, and again made famous by Colonel Lawrence. ' Probably not more than 200 whites have visited the city in late years.

“We found Petra as exquisite as it was said to be. To me it was like a marvellous dream. 'We were interested, too. in Lawrence, being in the laud of his campaigns. Every Arab who spoke to us of him adored him. “Woodstock, which is convenient to New York, yet is in the mountains, is a charming place, and we have made my studio there my home. Before we left we decided to have a party. As our guests were to be interesting, ami we lived among artists, we decided to hang our walls with the works of our neighbours. We borrowed 300 pictures, as well as a quantity of sculpture. It was considered the most unique party ever held in a private home, representing as it did every

kind of art, from the old-fashioned to the ultra-modern.”

“Eugene Speicher, Henry V. McPhee, Andrew Dasbei'g. Alfeo Faggi (one of the finest sculptors in the world to-day), Hayes, Miller, and George Bridgeman, who teaches drawing at the New York Students’ League, has been approached by the Paris, Munich, and London art schools to join their staffs, but he prefers New York.”

Plays ami concerts in the woods, where world-famed artists sometimes perform, are also items in the Arcadian life of the citizens of Woodstock'. ( .Small wonder that Mrs. Blomshield exclaims: “I just cannot tell yon what a lovely time I have! It makes me feel sorry for other people, in case they are not as happy as 1.”