Flying boat base at Horn Island, Torres Straits

Depicts a beach scene at a tropical Flying Boat base with white marker buoys, orange mooring buoys, a life belt, and a hut roofed with pale fronds. Douglas Shenton Annand (1903-1976) was a graphic designer and artist, born in Toowoomba, Queensland. Having taken the commercial course at the Central Technical College, Brisbane, in 1920 Douglas joined the English, Scottish & Australian Bank. Five years later he began work as a commercial artist at Reed Press and attended night-classes at Brisbane Central Technical College under L. J. Harvey. Annand freelanced from 1926 and was employed by Samson Clark & Co. Ltd, an advertising agency, from 1928, transferring to its Sydney office in 1930. The following year he worked on graphic design, especially for textiles, wrapping papers, labels, magazine covers and advertisements. Between 1935 and 1939 he drew for Sydney Ure Smith's publications, the 'Home', 'Art in Australia' and the Australian National Journal. From 1941-44 Annand was a camouflage artist with the Royal Australian Air Force. Stationed for two years in North Queensland, he painted and drew regularly, and exhibited water-colours in Sydney and Melbourne. His linear style often used simple colour washes for dramatic effect. The strongest paintings placed ambiguous perspective and compressed forms in a symbolic relationship, and united them with landscape. Some of these works revealed the influence of the British artist Paul Nash. After the war Annand became more involved in mural painting and completed commissions.