About
From an early age I was always drawing, mostly Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto. Most toddlers then wanted to be train drivers when they grew up, but I wanted to work for Walt Disney. My penchant for drawing led to my aunts saying that I was born with a pencil in my hand! I must have had some talent as my mother often said that so-and-so would like me to draw something or other for them, usually an animal, although I remember our doctor asking for a picture of his car. In later life my mum told me of a woman who had married a vicar and said that she still had the drawing which I did for her. I wonder what it was.
When travelling in steam trains in those days there were pictures above the seats painted by Leonard Squirrel, among others. They were of old-fashioned places and one of Lavenham in Suffolk, with its timber frame buildings caught my eye. I used Indian ink and a mapping pen and copied it. Mapping pens were very thin and after a while, when drawing with one, it made a groove in your finger! If that were not enough the nib ends often crossed so it was quite a challenge to draw with them, unlike today’s pens.
When I was 14 years old, I passed exams to go to Tottenham Technical College which was a college for the building trades. In the first year you sampled each trade and, at the end, decided which one you wanted to pursue for the final 2 years. Needless to say, I chose Painting and Decorating because it involved artwork. I really enjoyed studying architecture and I suppose that is really where my keen interest in old buildings started. We also studied lettering and the construction of alphabets.
On finishing college, I had an apprenticeship as a decorator. For my 21st birthday my mother and my then fiancée, Joyce, bought me a box of oil paints and an easel. This broadened my spectrum of artwork. I then had to do National Service, 2 years in the Royal Air Force at Coltishall in Norfolk. I carried on with my art, sketching and painting cartoon characters on coffee mugs for my mates in my accommodation block. Just before my de-mobilisation, I did a sketch of Coltishall Mill which I then painted in oils during my de-mob leave. It won 3rd prize in a local art exhibition. I then returned to my previous company as a decorator.
Having passed the City and Guilds exams I decided that I wanted to teach. By this time, I had married and, having honed my skills, I managed to get a lecturing post at Norwich City College.
Over the years I have tried every medium and I enjoy working with black and white ink, sometimes with a wash added. However, watercolours and oils are my preference. Pastels are OK but they dry the skin and I have enough problems with that as it is! I decided to explore the world of interior design and enrolled one day a week at an art college. I was looking for guidance rather than tuition. I found the different architects to be very interesting with their varied styles, from Le Corbusier to Gropius, who founded the Bauhaus. After a week of sitting final exams, which I passed, I became an Associate of the Incorporated British Interior Designers. I eventually became a Fellow but resigned after a few years as the meetings were either a long way away, and in the evenings, or at other unsuitable times. It was a great experience, though.
I started travelling abroad and marveled at the fantastic architecture in the cities of Europe. Italy, in particular, gave the impression that all of the inhabitants were artisans. I could walk around all day enjoying the cathedrals and old streets. Not for me modern skyscrapers and other ugly monstrosities! I felt I had to get involved. Finding books of Frith’s photos of old cities, towns and villages, as well as old archive pictures of Venice, Florence, Rome and Prague, to name just a few, made me want to bring them back to life. Visiting those places, along with China, Russia, Egypt, Jordan etc, has been a wonderful experience. For contrast I also enjoy painting wildlife, especially owls. I have also been influenced by the artwork on water barge boats, especially the way in which the artists interpret flowers.
Whenever I saw an old kettle, milk churn, or anything that lent itself to barge work, on sale I would buy it and paint it black ready to add flowers and other embellishments. Although I cover a wide variety of subjects in my artwork, I have rarely painted flowers on a canvas as I prefer to see them in their natural habitat. If I had to name my favourite artist it would have to be Rembrandt whose paintings never cease to amaze me, especially the Night Watch. I find Turner very interesting because of the way he employs unorthodox methods to obtain his desired effect. I also like those painters who created scenes of what life was like in their day. In this regard Canaletto, Hogarth and David Teniers the Younger spring to mind, but there are also other, lesser-known, artists who have left us with reminders of the past.