Happy thought for 31 July 2026

Have a Happy Thought:

It’s never too late to switch careers.

Take Edward Lear, for example. Aside from sounding like a weird mashup of Shakespearean tragedies, this incredible artist had several careers – starting serious, and ending… less so.

In his early life, Lear used his love and talent for drawing to put food on the table. Don’t think that means what he drew was boring… he was one of the great naturalist artists of the late 19th century, drawing incredibly accurate pictures of living animals:

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By Edward Lear - First edition of Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots. Originally a painting by Edward Lear posted to flickr at Macrocercus aracanga. Red and yellow maccaw, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7798168

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​Greater sulphur-crested cockatoo in Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots, 1832 By Edward Lear - sAHdEw7PismRDw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71448501

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A Weasel By Edward Lear - VQG7tUbvvrZSvQ at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22207757

 

In fact he was considered such a good artist and so important to botany, that he has a bird named after him!​

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By Edward Lear - Originally a painting by Edward Lear posted to flickr at Macrocercus hyacinthinus. Hyacinthine maccaw, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4482669 

Later in life, though, his artwork turned… shall we say more whimsical. In classic “be inspired to do something silly because you learned something serious” style, may I introduce you to Edward Lear’s nonsense botany, with a nod to Linnaean taxonomy (you know: Canis lupus familiaris= your pet dog).

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​Baccopipia Gracilis. From Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany (1871–77) — The Public Domain Review


​Bottlephorkia Spoonifolia, from Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany (1871–77) — The Public Domain Review

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Manypeeplia Upsidownia, from Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany (1871–77) — The Public Domain Review


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Tigerlillia Terribilis, from Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany (1871–77) — The Public Domain Review

 

And he later branched out slightly further, leaving botany to go back to animals…

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By Edward Lear - an illustration from "The Owl and the Pussycat".Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Gampe using CommonsHelper.(Original text: Directly scanned from an 1888 copy of "Nonsense Books by Edward Lear", Boston, Roberts Brothers.), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7294471

 

Is that an owl? With a pussycat?

Yes it is!

And why do those two animals go so well together in your mind? Maybe because of the poem written by... Edward Lear.


I hope you all get a chance to chase whimsy like Edward Lear.

 

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