Painter and illustrator Joyce Dennys was the 'second daughter of Colonel Charles Dennys, who was stationed in India, and Mary Tulloch, from Scotland...On 2 January 1919 she married Thomas Cann Evans, who came from Budleigh Salterton, Devonshire, but had been working in Australia as a doctor at the outbreak of war and joined up as a major in the Australian Army Medical Corps. After the war they lived at Kyogle, New South Wales, where Evans worked as a doctor, until 1921 when they returned to England.'
Having studied at the Exeter and London Schools of Art, Dennys had 'work accepted for the Bulletin soon after her arrival' in Australia. Her 'distinctive, witty style made her drawings immediately popular in post-war Sydney's sophisticated artistic circles...Art in Australia reproduced drawings by her in July 1919' and 'the September 1920 issue of Home included her strip illustration, "The Quaint Story of Pamela", who lost seven maids in six weeks and took over the household duties - successfully. A stylish cover of maid and mistress adorned Home in March 1921...and in September 1921 another comic multi-incident sketch, "Twelve Hours in the Life of a Richmond River Belle", illustrated the exhausting day of a young woman on a dairy farm who nevertheless remains fresh in the evening while her dancing partner (a strapping male) is wilting and complaining.'
After returning to England, Dennys mainly worked for the theatre, writing plays for adults, children's pantomimes and a West End musical set in Australia called "Kookaburra" (late 1950s)'; see also the British Library catalogue which lists numerous titles written and/or illustrated by Dennys.
(Source: Dictionary of Australian Artists Online)
