Caught On Canvas

Canvas is such a great fabric to paint, not to paint on, but as a subject. Imagine how much this material has brought to further humanities existence. After all it’s been responsible for discovering new worlds, establishing trade and commerce, protecting us from the elements and has been pushing great sailing ships around the earth for thousands of years.

I love the way canvas can trap light and shade, and the way it folds and reacts to the elements. In this painting titled: Caught On Canvas, I was drawn to the original photo I’d taken because of the graceful shape of the stern in this row boat. Also I love water and boating, and I needed to add this artwork to my nautical list of projects.

It wasn’t till I’d finished the painting that I realised how much pleasure the task of painting the seagull resting on the canvas had given me. From this artwork I started to see canvas material in a different way. I can understand why so many artists love to capture their hearts on canvas for others to see. Ironically, I prefer working on hardboard to paint on, however I still admire the richness of canvas as a fabric to paint.

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I have taken the long road to discover that painting and photography can sit side by side, for me painting is my first meaningful creative outlet. I use my photography to inspire my artwork and I hope my love of composition, subject and light come through in my artwork.

I was born in Papua New Guinea and lived on a remote rubber plantation before moving to Sydney in 1971 at the age of 7. I was finding it hard adjusting to the city and my mother encouraged me to take up oil painting.

Having won an art competition when I was 10, the judges recommended that I study at the local TAFE on a Saturday morning. I completed one term but felt out of place with students who were all over 16 years old, so I did not continue. (I was also a TV junkie, we had no TV in Papua, and staying at TAFE meant missing out on Hey Hey It’s Saturday.)

It took me 40 years to rediscover painting.

The one constant in my work is to find a new project and during my break from painting I have been a project manager in Information Technology. This kept me in a world with projects, and here too I learnt that even the smallest piece of data contributes its meaning towards each information system. The other constant motivating me in life is to finish a project so I can start a new one.

My creative drive comes from knowing that each brush stroke I make contributes its meaning towards the completed work. What inspires me about art is how the smallest brush strokes, when added together, can radiate a meaning for the person who gazes at the painting far beyond the meaning of each brush stroke.

I aim to do my best in each project and try to avoid, at all cost, the haunting feeling I get when I leave a project unresolved. Even to this day I still think of my unfinished painting of a sailing boat peeping out behind photographic developing chemicals back in 1979. I was 15 then and my easel had been replaced by a camera and darkroom. A part of me still needed to finish the oil painting, but photography filled the void, so the unfinished artwork was thrown away in a frenzied darkroom clean out before my HSC exams.