SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
Often, I am asked from where I receive my inspiration. To many
people my work appears to have stepped out of another time and place. In fact, it
is sometimes assumed that I am no longer among the living, or when I am met with,
and my surname recognized, that I must he the grandson of the artist. I believe that
old-world style can he continued by the living.
From my earliest recollections in Africa, I drew birds and animals. When I was seven
years old, Mom and Dad bought a piece of land in a recently developed rural area,
and there they built a large brick house.
For the first time I was truly aware of their creative bent, for they both worked
with great fervor and enthusiasm on this, our dream home. The beautiful old engravings
and paintings which had been awaiting the new walls were lovingly framed by Dad,
along with sepia photographs of the family ancestors from Holland and England.
Mom worked her wonders in decorating our house and we were all so proud of it. My
brother and I endured trips to antique auctions where my parents bargained for early
settler antiques, the collecting of which was a growing hobby of theirs.
Outside, Mom did all the gardening, and we built a dam to attract the local bird
life. Beyond the garden there was the dry rolling veldt to romp in.
I think this is where I developed my love for the bush, and the wide open spaces,
and also the warm ochre earth ~ a colour I use repeatedly in my paintings.
In the evenings, there were the old children's books from my grandparents- Peter
Pan and the Grimmís fairy stories, and Beatrix Potter, too.
Outside, our little paradise though, the politics of South Africa continued to worsen,
and so in 1977 Dad decided to move us to Canada, where his cousin had already settled.
There I was, a boy who had hardly worn shoes outside of school hours, now immersed
in an entirely different culture. So books rescued me, and I discovered the worlds
of Arthur Rackham and J.R.R. Tolkien. And when it came to high school geography,
my mind wandered to other worlds.
My salvation came to me in the form of three high school art teachers. One taught
me calligraphy and hand lettering. Another gave me the skills of etching and print
making, and the third, who had watched with mild amusement as I forced etching plates
under the wheels of the family motorcar to gain adequate printing pressure, procured
for me a one hundred year old printing press.
All three teachers instilled in me the belief that art is infallibly connected to
life, and all three supported me in any venture I endeavoured, as long as it furthered
my pursuit of art.
By far, the greatest source of inspiration comes from my lovely Fiji. I don't mean
the constant deriving of imagery from Fiji, but rather the joy of being there, and
taking the time to develop ideas for paintings and stories - the freedom to be alone
with one's self.
Much has been said about my avoiding the northern winters, the lure of tropical beauty,
and my apparent escape from civilization. These allusions have little to do with
any important part of me.
My island is no more physically beautiful than thousands of others, in fact, many
people deem it to be far less so. Still, this is the place where, when I stepped
upon its sandy shores, I thought to myself, "Here I am, where I was meant to
be."
In 1995 I was involved in a motorcar accident on the main island. In the recovery
ward of the Lautoka Hospital, I had a wondrous dream about an island sanctuary populated
by strange creatures. It was a very gentle,
healing dream with a depth I had never before experienced. Immediately upon waking
I set to work sketching the visions while they were fresh in my mind's eye. This
dream became Sketches from the Dream lsland of Birds which remains a personal
favourite among my publications. With Dream Island, a new philosophy became
evident to me. When a dear friend, who has often been a moral advisor as well as
representative for all my private publications, read the manuscript to Dream Island,
she said, "No more pretty pictures. Dig into the depths of your heart and share
your vision."
I realized that I needed to express the moral code I was learning in life, and apply
it more confidently in my work. So most of my work expresses my philosophy in some
form or another.
In all of my work I have tried to create a gentle world in which to escape. I love
to embellish with borders and decorations. I am often, and quite accurately, accused
of over-romanticizing my subjects. Art, indeed life, should be a rich visual feast,
restrained only by good taste.