part one of my story

one the illustration friday contributers sent me an email to thank me for some little thing and she added the question;

> Okay, I am being more nosy now. What is your
> profession? You are such a
> marvelous artist, and have so many good artistic
> suggestions, I keep
> wondering if that's what they pay you to do.

I have answered her in an email but I thought that I really should do a few posts to
explain where I come from, and why I do what I do. as much to try and explain it to me as to anybody who stumbles across this. (and to have a chance to put this wonderful praise up infront of you all)

I am a professional artist and have been for years. I have never earned a profit and in fact have always run at a huge loss, even if I don't count my time. (full timer)
so it's not all it's cracked up to be.
I have my ups and downs but I always have to have a full time job on top in order to survive.
well these last two years I have not had to, as I worked hard for a time in australia, forwent a lot of the ordinary things that people take for granted, both during and since and I have been living on that money ever since. It's almost gone now though and I am trying to think what is my next plan, because I have never felt so far from cracking the big time in my whole life.
so unfortunately the only person that pays me to do it is me, and I pay lousy.
:)
but to go back to the beginning a little.
I will have to look for some images to scan and flesh it out with a few words.


my sister and I before the biggest social event of the year, the fancy dress ball. Blackwater cerca 1976 (the link is to a google map, well worth a look. zoom out to get the true idea.)

I was born in the outback.
well in a town in the the outback.
Mt. Isa, according to wikipedia, and I quote (from the queensland link) "The largest city by area in the world, Mount Isa, is located in Queensland. The city area is in excess of 40,000 km²"
google map of mt Isa (same advice about zooming out)

I don't remember a thing and until a few years ago had never seen mt isa with self concious eyes as the family moved when I was all of two years old.
we moved every two years or so during my whole life, well two years or a few more.
the longest we ever spent in one place was in buderim also in queensland where my dad put his foot down and refused to move the family while I was in high school, feeling that it had sent my sister off the rails, moving during her high school years. so there we stayed until I had finished. completely ruined his career as buderim was one of the plushest offices in the state and there was a lot of resentment.


Scott Hollingsworth, Our Ordinary Queenslander, or she has a hot arse

so what ever else he did, or didn't, do for me he gave up his hopes to make it further by doing that.
I have probably never told him to his face that I appreciate that he did that for me.
I'll have to try and get round to it.
the funny thing is that I would have coped just fine I reckon as none of our moves ever traumatised me, I liked it. chance to shed old friends and make a new set.
but in the end you never really make any permanent friends.
I don't have any friends that I have had since childhood, and those few that I do have are from my art school years, which I started when I already had a good twenty six-seven years or so under the bridge, or one from when I did my badly thought out stint in med school from 8 years earlier.

I told teri that I would include some works done with the sewing machine, so here's
one called, "of the difference between criminals and outlaws"


and


this is part of a much larger work, that I will post some picture of in another post, as it was a work that earned me one of my only two prizes.
I had some help getting this work together from my long time partner and collaborator at the time. I won't mention her by name in case I upset her, but a great artist and a fine human being.

and I might post this entry and call it part one, finishing up with a photo from a performance art piece, called "on the wings of an angel, or at least chatting to one" in memory of my favourite preachers daughter.



for anyone who has too much time on their hands and wants more google map experiences
my house in madrid, as seen in a previous post

a selection of other previous homes

where I lived in Gladstone from 1972 - 75,

coolangatta house, right behind the police station

coles creek road

well for some reason these maps are all much more zoomed out than when I linked to them, so sorry 'bout that.
you'll have to zoom them in or just ignore them all together.
but they are fun
until next time