Bob was born in Maryborough Qld in 1941 where he attended the Albert State School and then Maryborough Boys State High. While there were no formal classes in art, one of the teachers, Mr Des Carew-Reid (a noted artist in his own right) gave up some of his lunch time to introduce a few of the boys to the vagaries of oil painting. This whetted Bob’s interest in painting.
WORK
After completing Junior Bob came to Brisbane in 1958, to take up a position with the Commonwealth Bank and then the Reserve Bank where he remained until he resigned in 1980.
Because he was a fairly active fellow his interest in sport particularly, swimming, surf lifesaving, both rugby codes (Union and League) and field hockey and that he resided for a number of years in several boarding houses, precluded him from giving the time or having the space required to follow his early passion for art. However, as age and some minor injuries began to have an effect on his athletic activities and subsequently becoming newly married to the love of his life (and sometimes lovely model) and then raising a family, his interests turned again to the less physical pursuit of art. During this time he began to look about for work in the commercial art field and started to pick up some spasmodic freelance work mainly in fashion illustration for a couple of boutique clothes shops and posters for local sport and school fete events.
ART FIELD WORK/INSTRUCTING
At the beginning of 1980, he began the Diploma of Visual Arts (part time), at the then QUEENSLAND COLLEGE OF ART. He could only complete 18 months of the course because in the middle of 1980 Bob left the bank to further pursue his interest in the art field, by becoming the proprietor of an Art shop. The pressure of running this business didn't allow for the time necessary to attend all classes and he reluctantly deferred towards the end of 1981. He closed the ART PLACE in 1983. The period from 1984 to 1987 saw him serving at various stages as ROYAL QUEENSLAND ART SOCIETY Gallery Director (approx 7 months taking over from Doris Lenton approx Aug 1986 then to Beth Woo Mar 1987), T.A.F.E.tutor (adult education) at the same time gaining his Instructional Skills Certificate, as well as freelancing in fine art and illustration of all kinds. The year 1988 saw him becoming a fulltime instructor at THE ADVERTISING ACADEMY where he remained until resigning at the end of 1993 to once again go freelancing, but mainly as an illustrator. Bob still did some part time instructing at the former Academy, which later came under new management and became known as the INSTITUTE FOR DESIGN. His undoubted ability enabled him to survive the culling in staffing and remained in his part time capacity until early 2004. At the same time he also conducted classes each morning Monday to Saturday inclusive, in fine art at the ART STUDIO attached to the Ascot Art Materials shop in Racecourse Rd Ascot. When this shop and thus the studio closed down because of rental/leasing cost increases, he continued the classes from his home. This enabled him to devote more time to his own painting as well.
PREFERRED MEDIUMS
Oils
Pastels
Acrylics
Charcoal
Graphite
Pen and Ink
Pantone and Berol marker pens coupled with coloured pencils
PREFERRED SUBJECTS
Portraits
Figure
Landscapes
Seascapes
Occasional Abstract and still lifes
STYLES
Traditional Conservative/Realism
Benign Impressionism
Surreal and Fantasy in traditional realist style but in “off the wall” ideas.
INSPIRATIONS
His initial inspirations came from the old Masters such as Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Rembrandt through to Bouguereau, Leighton, Singer-Sargent and then to portraitists Kinstler and Sanden, Austarlian portraitists Sir William Dargie, Paul Newton, Robert Hannaford and Peter Smeeth, then through to the surrealists (especially Dali, Magritte and local artists Elizabeth Holian, Lisa Adams, Cynthia Breusche and Marcel Desbiens) and fantasy art (Boris Vallejo, Frank Frazetta and local artist Patrick O’Brien)
However, since buying a computer and being able to access the internet he has uncovered many other artists whose styles he admires. These include Morgan Weistling, Daniel F Gerhartz, Daeno Pini, Ricardo Sanz, Bruno Di Mao, Michael Cheval to name just a few.
PROCEDURES/METHODS.
With regards to his own art, he generally doesn’t have any great, deep and meaningful philosophy behind the ideas that find their way into his works. More often than not they just happen and he interprets them as the mood takes him and he just goes along with them. Most times the germ of an idea will present itself and may start in a certain way but often “happy accidents” happen and things twist and turn until something finally finishes up on the support, that may or may not resemble the original idea. He will not copy other artists works but may reinterpret some ideas expressed but not the images. He does use references but again not to copy but to use only as an aid to accuracy where necessary.
As well as his traditional style in illustration and painting, Bob has gradually found himself being drawn towards surrealism, and this is starting to become more apparent in his later work and thus he is able to combine landscape, seascape, portrait and figure painting into the same work while allowing imaginative and “over the boundary line” ideas to be expressed.
ART EDUCATION
Bob is a mainly self taught artist. Apart from the short time he spent as a student at Art College where he was most influenced by Denise Johnston, Noela Hills, Bryan Kearns, Russell Craig and Kiat Sng, he has attended a number of workshops by local artists:-
Rick Everingham
Colin Merrill
George Williamson
Charles Ludlow
Pir Tareen
Jean Sindelar
Herman Pekel
Marcel Desbiens
Michael Wilcox (Author of “Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green” etc)
EXHIBITIONS
Bob, because he has a fear of rejection, has not been a regular exhibiter in galleries, so much as just entering an odd work here and there in a few smaller galleries and local arts and crafts shows at schools and community organisations etc.
Schools and Colleges:-
Mayfield State School
Manly State School
Camp Hill State High (now Whites Hill State College)
Villanova College
John Paul College
Lourdes Hill College
St Peter’s Lutheran College
Church of England Grammar School
Nudgee College
Galleries:-
Cassims Gallery
Grand View Fine Arts Gallery
Maria Cosgroves Contemporary Art Gallery
New Farm Stock Room Gallery
Bayside Gallery
Jasu Gallery
Ardrossan Gallery
Scarborough Fair Art Gallery
Other Venues:-
Princess Alexandra Nurses Appeal
Lady Bjelke Petersen Parliamentary Annexe
Wynnum Manly Arts Council “Art on Florence”
Royal National Show Exhibition
Sunday Mail Home Exhibition
Courier mail Home Exhibition
Royal Qld Art Society Annual Exhibitions
Half Dozen Group of Artists
Wynnum Community/leisure Centre
Stone’s Corner Rotary Exhibition
Basically his finished paintings, done over a couple of decades, come out of storage and hang in their turn on the walls of his home and are swapped around periodically. Add to this, his attachment to the works he produces and this makes it hard for him to part with them and is another obstacle to his reticence to exhibit. As a result he has rarely exhibited for a number of years, concentrating mainly on his classes.. Because of this he does not have a body of sales or exhibited work. Mainly it has just been the desire of painting that gives him the satisfaction of doing what he wants to do and when he wants to.
However it is time to downsize the number of paintings he has, to make way for newer works and he is now taking the plunge to part with some of his treasured works.