Artists statement:
Return to.the fishermans shack.
When i was at Banyo High school my mate David would drag me at weekends to Stradbroke Island to fish for tailor. There was a fishermans shack. In it there was a box of photogravure magazines with reproductions of paintings by Lord Leighton,Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema,Jean Leon Gerome. Solomon Joseph Solomon,.They had names like rock singers .I wished i had a cool name like that.
And i wished i could paint like that.
Back at school we studied art. At least we thought we did. The latest trends and modern artists right through secondary school.
But i had struck a problem.Picasso and Pollock had cool names ,but it was clear to me that they didnt paint like my mates from the fishermans shack.
If you could,why wouldnt you?and why wouldnt anyone show me how.?
So i studied to become an art teacher.I raised the problem of the artists from the fishermans shack again.
What was more troubling was the silence or even hostility their names evoked . Starting with the older art lecturers the venom spread to younger students
So for half my life i have lived in a very confused state thinking i was the problem. It was my fault i couldnt paint like that Not so now.I have learned many secrets from the shack.
An artist friend asked one day ” what are you trying to do?”
I said”paint one decent nude before i die”
He muttered.” You wont live long enough”
I muttered ” i. Think i already have”
Brian E Deagon