Artist’s Back to Basic – July 2019

A^

long, long time ago in the

land of brown robed Christian

Brothers and black and white

Nuns, I lived in a world of Times

Tables, Logic, English Grammar

and the monotonous repetition of

historical dates and facts. In this

world, Art took a back seat on a

very long bus. It amazes me that

Artists actually emerged from this

uncultured fog and I was especially

amazed that some of us could even

hold a pencil after being continually

ruler rapped across the knuckles

or copping the strap across the

hand on an unhealthy daily basis.

Because of this early ‘educational’

regimen I never had the opportunity

to really appreciate art, as it was

never accepted as a necessary part

of life. It wasn’t until 1970 when Art

began to be accepted as part of

school curriculum in Queensland and

my ‘mentor’ was a teacher called

David Kirwan, a wonderful tutor and

a wonderful human being. It was a

mixture of David and my older brother

Ian that sparked my ability to draw

into life. Ian could draw Walt Disney

characters to perfection whereas

David taught me techniques and

the use of colour. Unfortunately the

extent of my art studies ended in 1972

after only three years of secondary

school teaching in art. At my school

Art did not exist in years 11 and 12

by Kevin Rogers

Setting up your Space

Back to the Drawing Board