The History of Burwell Boomerangs
The art of boomerang throwing and making has been a tradition in my family for many years. My grandfather, Cecil Burwell was introduced to Aboriginal boomerangs in the late 1920’s. Being in the airforce, he was particularly interested in the flight characteristics of boomerangs. Cecil found that by fine tuning the design he could make them fly more consistently and accurately.
Cecil had two sons, Jack and Robert, and a daughter, Doreen in the 1940’s. He passed onto them both his knowledge and passion for boomerangs. In time, Jack and Robert represented Australia in boomerang throwing and set world records.
Jack, (my father) presented the Beatles with boomerangs when they toured Brisbane in 1964. His passion for boomerangs was as a teacher. He loved to see the expressions on people’s faces when they made a boomerang return for the first time.
Robert (my uncle) went on to become one of the greatest boomerang designers and throwers in the world and is still held in the highest regard by his peers to this day.
Like his father before him, Jack passed on his knowledge of boomerang making and throwing to me when I was a kid. I wasn’t too bad at making them but unfortunately I inherited my mothers’ throwing arm. After years of being an average thrower I decided to focus more on Boomerang Art as that was more my forte. I originally made traditional style art boomerangs with owners including Greg Norman, Dawn Fraser and Ian Thorpe.
In 2007, I dreamt of “BoomTych” style paintings - a bit like “Triptych” where you have a series of pictures making up one big picture. I think I was subconsciously tired of doing miniature paintings and wanted to paint something larger. My BoomTych style is unique and designed to not only be pretty but also to instantly promote our wonderful country Australia.
The Burwell Boomerang tradition continues…
