ARTIST BIO

I was born in Gore Southland was educated there & completed mySchoolCertificate Art & University Entrance Art a 2yr course in One year. I joined the National Bankof NZ Ltd i  Jan. 1960,& worked for  them for 401/2yrs rtiring as the senior Connercial manager for the East Coast of the North Island managing customers from south of Porongahau & north of Ruatoria. I had 10managers & a lending officer plus 4accountants under my control. I was a great job, I loved it & I was sad to retire as I missed my many colleagues. Nowadays I am so busy I wonder how I managed to fit my job at the Bank in.

My mother encouraged us to draw when we were young and introduced me to watercolours when i was 7, so they are my first love . I also painted in oils when Iwas a teenager, but watercolour took over during my banking career. When I was working, I painted on wet Sundays & became a member of art societies wherever I was working. I attended many courses over the years & my work slowly improved. I exhibited my first painting at the National Bank Art Awards at the Buckle Street Gallery in Wellington in 1963 & it sold for a very good price and from then on I have exhibited & sold quite well.

I had my first solo exhibition at the Forrester Gallery in Oamaru in 1990. I exhibited 22 paintings & sold 21 on opening night & the last one from the studio shortly after the exhibition closed.

I had 2 exhibitions at Huthlee winery where I worked for 5 years after I retired, both sold well.

I have also had 3 joint exhibitions with several Havelock north Artists in Havelock North, with Sue Schaare & John Staniford in Napier. At that time  the mid 90's we were the 3 top selling artists at the Red Peach Gallery, in Ahuriri, Napier. I also sold work at the Havelock North Gallery. 

Since then, I have been exhibiting mostly at Havelock north Art Society exhibitions 7 alsotutored there, many Rotary exhibitions in Napier, Paraparaumu & Brisbane and also at the Wellington Art Gallery on Queens Wharf. Over the years I have won a number of awards most recently 3 here in Aust., 

I have recently invented 2 new inventions in the art field.

1:- A method of adding sound & video to a painting using a smart phone, to give the viewer an added dimension, appreciation and enjoyment of the work. e.g. My artist statement comes first , my philosophy of painting & the reason I chose the particular subject & painted this work. Then a series of poems or songs about the subject which I perform - All up approx 10 mins. All the viewer has to do is download Google Drive click on  the reference no. which is on a card beside the painting and they can enjoy the video. this means that several people can watch & listen to the video at the same time.

I intend to sell exclusive licences for this invention to artists' who would like to do the same thing for $5000, particularly Aboriginal or Torres Strait islanders, whose work always tells a story. This invention has wide ranging implications which could revolutionise how things are done at present. e.g. The motor industry. The current drivers handbook would be videoed & uploaded to Google drive. The driver merely has to have Google Drive on his phone to read it. Similarly the mechanic when he is finished servicing the car, would upload the details & the next service date. The warranty will never get lost as it is always on the phone. The mediclal industry, airlines, in fact anyone who manufactures a product that needs instructions for some reason e.g. assembly etc., will find it invaluable. there will be a considerable reduction in the use of paper.

2:- An artists easel & essential artist's accessories package.

This consists of a ROTATABLE Studio or wall easel, a Plein aire easel, an improved slightly larger, Plein aire painting box with the legs on the inside rather than the out side, so they don't get caught in the undergrowth when hiking to location. An improved Mahl, water carrier, brushholder, palette holder, or  colours holder for oil or acrylic paints. These are all on a sliding, adjustable arm, so no matter what size painting you are working on the arm can be adjusted, so everything is always within arm's reach. There are slots in the sides of the easels , at waist high or 350mm fromthe ground, to accommodate the sliding arm so everything is handy,whether painting standing up, or sitting down. A hand held wet painting carrier that holds 2 paintngs. That is the package. On top of that there are 2 other larger hand held wet painting carriers, which hold 4 & 8 paintings. There is also a rectangular model to go in cars, station wagons, utes, vans or SUV's. This holds up to 10 wet paintings. on each side there is a 300mm threaded peg, which srews out to secure the carrier to the sides of the vehicle. It also doubles as a delivery holder for finished paintings being delivered to an Exhibition. You merely have to drape a sheet over the top.

These latter 3 wet painting holders, will be sold separately.

At present the manufacturing team is being set up in China & by the end of this month, the first prototypes should be available. Then  3 artists in NZ, 4 in Aust & 6 overseas will test the easels for a month for me, to iron out any bugs, if any, & to suggest a RRP. When I have this information, I will make a Marketing video, demonstrating how the easels work, what price they are & where they can be purchased.

They should be on the market by Apri/May.

I intend sending this video to the likes of Amazon, Ikea, Alibaba, selected Art shops throughout the world, Art Societies, Primary & Secondary schools, Universities, Polytechnics, private art schools, Art Groups,Clubs hobbyists, Bunnings etc.,

These easels are not like anything else on the market at the present time. they willbe made of a high impact, lightweight, sturdy, strong, aluminium finished plastic.(the same as they use in modern car bodies) they will be cheap to manufacture & I expect them to be able to market them more cheaply than existing wooden ones currently on the market. they are unique in that if the artist is finding it difficult to paint a curve which is down low, he/she merely has to rotate the painting board which is on a lazy susan to the correct position, the painting board will remain firmly in that position until the artist moves it again. This means that he should be able to paint faster and obtain a more professional result.

If any artist is interested in either of these inventions, pleae send me an email, the address you want the item sent to & I will order it for you as soon as it is available.

As they are both unique inventions & have not been done anywhere else in the world before, I have registered & hold worldwide patents on them both. for the next 20 years.