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Every Sunday of my 13th year I spent with Carmen Puls, an elderly Artist in the small
Victorian town of Great Western (Australia)where I spent my childhood. On these Sundays
Carmen not only taught me how to paint in Acrylics, but also introducedme to
famous Artists and their paintings through her extensive library of Art books.
While attending these lessons I learnt the skills of observation, composition and the
plein air approach and developed a love of art.On occasion I would copy a
print of a painting by one of the old masters. It was certainly an incredible experience,
when 22 years later I stood in front of the painting "The boyhood of Rayleigh" by
Sir John E Millais at the Tate Galleryin London - one of the paintings I had copied on Sundays
with Carmen. I only wished that Carmen were there with me.
After completing secondary school my path took me in a different direction and I
completed a Degree in Mathematics andGraduate Diploma of Education, but
the love of painting never left me. Shortly after completing my studies I visited an art
exhibition and decided to follow my heart and become an Artist. My first love! I enrolled in art classes.
I attended art classes and concentrated on drawing and oil painting 3 years. It was
only after leaving these classes that I pursuedwatercolour painting seriously and
this is when my true learning began. After years of trial and error, frustration and joy,
copious amounts of reading of books and studying the great artists of the past and present,
I finally began to see results. I was achieving what I was after in my painting, rather than
just struggling with technique. Exhibiting, winning exhibitionsand selling paintings all
added to my confidence. Now after about 20 years of being a professional Artist I can not
imagine doing anything else. I am glad to say that I am still learning and will be until the
day I shuffle off this mortal coil.
One of the biggest turning points in my career was when I journeyed to the U.S.A. (1999) to
specifically study two Artists whomI consider to be two of the best. I closely studied the
works of John Singer Sargent at a Retrospective exhibition in Boston andhad the fantastic
opportunity to have a private viewing and to study his unframed works at the Brooklyn Museum of Art
in New York. Even though Sargent passed away in 1925, I consider him to be my greatest
teacher.I also took the opportunityto study the works of Andrew Wyeth (a contrasting
artist to Sargent) who has had an immense impact on my work, not onlytechnically, but a lso from a philosophical point of view. I am indebted to these men, and since this visit I feel my work has
changed and has headed in a new direction. In essence I feel my work is truer and freer than ever before.
Today I spend my time painting, teaching watercolour painting, running overseas tours and
exhibiting. I enter a number ofselected competitions and have won many awards, the
most prestigious being the highly coveted A.M.E Bale award. Thisexhibition is considered
t o be "Australia's premiere exhibition of realist and figurative art"
Teaching watercolour painting is something I enjoy doing almost as much as painting. I have
been teaching watercolour paintingfor many years and in the process have made many
friends. My reasons for teaching watercolour painting and drawing are many.Friendship
and the desire to impart my knowledge are just two. However one of the main reasons is that
I stronglysubscribe to John Ruskin's view that "Everyone should learn to draw…" Ruskin
told a Royal commission into drawing in1857- "My efforts are directed not to making a
carpenter an artist, but making him happier as a carpenter". How apt thisstatement is, and
I can tell you that much happiness and appreciation of life is gained from learning to paint or draw.
In essence I teach painting to make people happier.
As an extension of my teaching I have written many articles for the Australian Artist magazine.
If you are interested in readingany of my articles please contact the Australian Artist magazine
for a list of the relevant issues. One of the most difficult questions I am often asked is "What kind
of painting do you do?" In this world of compartmentalisation(as described by Scott Peck in his
book "In search of Stones"), I consider myself to be in the Artistic sense, a paradox. I see
myself as neither a traditional nor a contemporary painter, and yet I am both. I do not prescribe to
any particular school of art - I paint what I paint, not because it fits into any category or school of painting,
but simply because it is how I see, feel and wish to communicate. If I can raise the spirits and/or
emotionally touch people, making their lives richer (as Sargent and Wyeth have for me) through my painting,
then I am happy.
I hope you find enjoyment in viewing my works.
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