Finally being able to swap art for career to art for retirement has led to this artist being able
to tap into his amazing well of creativity, without commercial restrictions.PROFILE
M
y art career began back in 1948 when, aged
10, I was achieving high marks in school
composition projects which involved gathering
information from the library (there was no internet then),
rewriting the information (by hand) into the presentation,
and adding illustrations by creating, copying, drawing
and painting from references. My parents and teachers
were impressed with my work and high marks, so at
age 13, I was enrolled in the Art School at Wellington
Technical College in Wellington, New Zealand.
College subjects, apart from Maths, English, Biology,
and Geography, covered Sculpture, Costume history,
Watercolour, Pastels, Oils, Figure drawing, and Still Life.
At 15 years of age, my father obtained an
apprenticeship for me at the New Zealand Railways
Publicity Department, training as a sign writer and
pictorial poster artist. Advertisements in the 1950s
were all designed by studio graphic artists and handrecreated on hoardings of approximately ten feet by
twenty feet.
During this period I attended three years of night
school at the Wellington Technical Arts College,
covering subjects of Design, Lettering, Colour, Still
life, Figures, and Perspective, amongst others.
I continued in sign work after leaving the Railways,
becoming a specialist in Illustration and in 24 carat gold
work, ultimately creating my own business.
After marriage and four children, I had no time for
hobby art, as my time was committed to earning for
the family.
I retired at the age of 69, and inally had time
to devote to my own ideas regarding art, at which
point I was tired and bored with creating for others,
and decided to move into an area which would give
me greater satisfaction, freedom and a sense of
achievement.