36 | April• 2018
THE RED TOOL BOX
bedroomofhishomeintoastudio.
(Astudio!HowIenviedhimhisstu-
dio, as in my own home I had nei-
ther the space nor the funds for such
aluxury.)Hispaintingequipment
was comprehensive – an easel, qual-
ity paints, linseed oil, turpentine,
brushes, palette, can-
vases, charcoal pencils,
fixative, palette knives
–evenarollingpinfor
removing air bubbles
when gluing.
Ever practical, George
housed many of these
itemsinatoolbox–a
redmetaltoolboxwith
acantilevertray–built
to take hard knocks and
purchased from a local
hardware store. Not
fancy,butsleek,shiny
andveryred–thesports
car of conveyance for
painting equipment.
For about six years
George and I studied
together through various units un-
til the completion of the course and
other commitments drew us apart,
though we always maintained per-
sonalcontactaswelivedwithina
couple of kilometres of each other.
I’dsometimesseehimonhisdaily
walk or at the local shops and oc-
casionallywe’dtouchbasewitha
‘proper’ afternoon tea, sharing a
cuppa and a chinwag.
Fast-forward some years andgreasedhair,amouthfuloflarge
teeth (all his own) and magnifying
specsthatgavehisblueeyesaBambi-
like appearance. His dress code was
smartshorts(eveninwinter),a
neatly pressed shirt, long socks and
shoes–neversandals.(The long-
socks-with-sandals look
wasstrictlyfortourists
andPoms–andhe
considered himself
neither.)
George was a man
who lived life to the full;
he worked hard, played
hard,andhadanopin-
ion about everything.
He adored his wife, his
family, his friends, and
wasloyalandoutspo-
kentoanequaldegree.
Aslimandvigorous
man, George took pride
inhisitnessandhealth
and walked three kilo-
metreseveryday.“I’d
no more go without
my walk than without changing my
underwear,”he’dsay.
Andastheonlymaleinapaint-
ing class full of women, George was
inhiselement.Heruledtheroost
andwewerehishens.Headoredhis
singular role and looked after his
brood with the same attention he
gave to everything.
He took to painting with an awe-
inspiring level of passion and com-
mitment, even converting the spare
I often remember
George, his big
personality,
generous spirit
and unfailing
encouragement