Perth Voice Interactive

IF I had to describe Fremantle to someone, I’d probably just show them one of Ange’s Fremantle Herald cartoons.

They are a cryptic melting pot of satire, new age baloney, politics and sunshine.

Sometimes the cartoons are so left-field, our editor is left scratching his head, but they always align with the paper’s sightly subversive and quirky ethos.

Ange, aka Angie Lyndon, has been drawing cartoons for the Fremantle Herald since 1990, making her the newspaper’s longest serving employee and the author of around 1800 Chook toons.

Never afraid to skewer the sacred cows of the day, she combines a spiky left-wing stance with a surreal new-age vision.

Right now Ange is getting ready for her retrospective exhibition in Fremantle, featuring limited-edition signed prints of her best Chook cartoons.

“One of my favourites is two monks discussing different vintages of incense, and another is about an alternative plumber who gives counselling sessions over the phone,” Ange says.

“Unfortunately some of the very early hand-drawn cartoons were stored in plastic tubs in my garden and they got damaged by rain.

“I’ll be displaying about 21 cartoons at a time and they’ll be changed throughout the month-long exhibition.”

The political, cultural and social landscape has changed dramatically since Ange drew her first cartoon for the Herald back in 1990, and she’s now entering her autumn years, so how does that impact the creative process?

“Back in the old days I used to get inspired when something irritated me; now I get irritated by everything,” she laughs.

“It’s getting harder and harder to be funny because of the state of the world, and also because of political correctness.

“But I still manage to see the funny side of things.”

Ange, who has three children and three grandkids, still appreciates moments of tender beauty and many of her cartoons depict mother and child in humorous situations.

“I get inspired when I see a child interacting with their mum; it’s pure joy,” she says.

Environmentalism and holistic therapies are other common themes.

Ange used to run Fremantle’s Environment Centre back in the day and still practices and teaches a host of natural therapies including reflexology, metamorphosis, kinesiology and astrology (you often see her walking around Freo clutching her trusty yoga mat).

“Ideas just bubble up from my subconscious, but in general you have to be passionate about what you draw; you need a certain energy to pull off a cartoon,” she says. “I had been away for a while, and it took a bit to get the old energy firing again.”

Ange says she enjoys the work of English cartoonists Carl Giles and Quentin Blake, the Aussie cartoonist Bruce Petty, and the toons in the old satirical magazine Punch.

From the art world, she admires English painter David Hockney, and Grayson Perry, who is known for his ceramic vases and tapestries.

After drawing her early cartoons with pencils, Ange quickly switched to the Apple pen and has never looked back.

Outside of her Herald work, she has drawn for Green Left Weekly and has had cartoons in Refractory Girl, a groundbreaking journal for the Australian women’s movement, and in Scratch! A scrapbook of radical cartooning in Australia No.2.

She’s also contributed drawings for children’s books and calendars for complementary therapies. 

True to the life of a bohemian artist, Ange lives in her daughter’s converted garage at her home in White Gum Valley.

And in classic spiky Ange fashion, she didn’t want her daughter to install air con.

“‘I hate air con’ I told her, and then she went and installed it when I was away.”

Ange’s retrospective Herald cartoon exhibition is at Amante & Co Coffee, 147 South Terrace, Fremantle from February 8 for a month. All the limited edition prints are available to buy.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK