He first became known as an artist , and was a member of the Sydney Bohemian set in the 1890s . He wrote about this part of his life in his book , Those Were the Days , published in 1918 . He first became known as an artist , and was a member of the Sydney Bohemian set in the 1890s , whose doings he was afterwards to record in his Those Were the Days , a volume of reminiscences published in 1918 .