from my first exhibition: Bus.
My very first exhibition was in Wellington, New Zealand at Victoria Cafe in Mt Victoria in 1985. I was a teenager. The exhibition was called Bus and consisted of 8 paintings, approximately 4 feet square. Those paintings meant a lot to me.
Back in the day I used to paint great big artworks with acrylic paint on calico sheets on top of a drop cloth on my studio floor, then hang them from my rafters. My studio doubled as my bedroom, there was not a lot of room to move. I stretched the painted calico over some old frames which were bits of wood I would staple together. I did not expect they would have to last forever. But apparently the buyers have made them last. One buyer told me he has had the painting re-stretched and re-backed several times over rebuilt frames. I am flattered.
I met artist Tony Fomison one day, when I was creeping outside the Rita Angus cottage, where he was an artist in residence. I had never heard of him but Rita Angus was one of my favourites, hence my pilgrimage to the cottage. (It wasn’t really a pilgrimage, it was merely a bus trip away).
I mention Tony because he became a good friend of mine. My small group of friends and I had an opening night at the cafe and Tony arrived late and we had a bit to eat. He was so encouraging and supportive. He made me feel like I was a real artist. I had no self-confidence. Thank god for people like Tony and my lovely friends at the time.
My regret is that I do not own any of the eight paintings. Most of them I gave away. The owner of the above painting died recently and her sons claimed that they gave the artwork to her stepson. I did contact the stepson but never heard back, (which is why I suspect they may have thrown the painting out.)
Then I moved to Sydney, Australia. I acquired a 6 foot by 4 foot frame from an artist who had an enormous studio across the road from me in Surrey Hills, his name was Brett Whiteley. The frame was beautifully constructed compared to my Bus frames. I was very lucky to meet another artist who again, encouraged me. I eventually decided to use that frame to create another bus painting. By this time, I was living at Maroubra Beach. I lived in a brown brick two storey deco building. My one bedroomed flat, which had a separate lounge and kitchen, had a view over the bowling green out to the sea. There were blue Sydney Metro buses which had a terminus at Maroubra Beach. I took a photo while the driver was changing the destination name to Railway Square, although for some reason the R was missing.
I only did one blue bus. I still have it although the frame is long gone, or it would have been impossible to bring back to New Zealand. I folded it up and carried it home from Sydney with me in my checked luggage. I am so pleased I did, it is my treasure. I have it in my lounge room in pride of place covering a whole wall, the folds are still visible – I let them remain. I would not know how to get rid of them anyway.
I also travelled to New York in the late 80s. I stayed in Times Square not realising it was New York’s porn video area. I wanted to paint a New York taxi, but they had moved on from the yellow taxis with the black and white checkerboard belt. So I took a photo in front of the XXXtasy video centre which was essentially a peep show.
I did paint that picture. I still have it including on its backing board. It is only about 2 feet by 3 feet. I had a few requests to sell it over the years but to be honest, I was a little embarrassed about its gaudiness so I did not want to put it out into the world. I am glad I still have it. I can’t find a photo of it anywhere online. All there is are a few obituaries like this one and others behind paywalls of the owner and his wikipedia page. He died aged 91 and apparently had mafia connections.
XXXtasy video center, New York.
I have mentioned Spoonflower where I used to sell my designs on fabric and wallpaper. I have had other experiences of print on demand, selling products on Vida until it closed down which was my absolute favourite for quality. I have also used Studio6 and trialled some others, but for now, I am happy using RedBubble.
So imagine my delight, when I was able to reproduce these three artworks from the 80s. For some reason, I really wanted to turn them into jigsaw puzzles. The most successful painting for this turned out to be the blue Sudney bus, mainly because the folds made it easy to distinguish the different shades of blue.
Bus jigsaw puzzle, available from Redbubble
These designs are also available as postcards and greeting cards and a few other things. I love print on design and to be able to send notes to people with my own artwork – I sent one as a thank you note and a couple where I sent them as seasons greetings.
It is comforting to take a trip down memory lane and remember the joy I had when I painted these artworks and to remember the wonderful artists who inspired and supported me. This is why I love print on demand.