The Story So Far... I landed my first real job after a year and a half at art college doing graphic art. Myer Department Stores offered me work in their divisional art section, where I worked under designer Max Hurley to create their annual animated Christmas displays. Each year, we would build elaborate settings and characters out of polystyrene and plaster, fabric and wood. The characters would be animated with electric motors, costumed and installed as a Christmas holidays feature - a great apprenticeship in extractive sculpting. I also learned scenic art and mural painting from Max, who was moonlighting as a designer for the Queensland Light and Lyric Opera. Many weekends were happily spent spattering and scumbling vast swathes of canvas and plywood.
After six years of this, I developed itchy feet, and set out on my own, turning my hand to whatever projects came my way. This included lots of theatrical scenic painting for children's theatre and theatre restaurant, as well as my own creation for a Qld Conservatorium of Music opera production. I also started producing cartoons and advertising graphics. In early 1987, I was employed by a crowd called Exhibit Resources to work on a series of elaborate parade floats for World Expo '88. This necessitated a steep learning curve for me in the use of new materials like polyester and epoxy resins, urethanes, and automotive paints. I also discovered how to work with large scale molds and deal with structural issues. I was promoted to shop foreman, where I learned the fine art of flying by the seat of my pants.
During my time at Expo, I had met two like minded souls, Russell Lake and Maurice Grenfell, who aspired to start a business with me, after the project finished. In early 1988 we set up Planet Productions P/L, creating specialized props and displays for retail, theatre, TV advertising, theme parks, festivals and events. Tony Powell, a project coordinator from Expo, also later joined the company.
After 5 years with planet, I started getting itchy feet again, and so resigned from my director's position,( a difficult decision), to pursue my own artistic directions.
I became involved in two public space design projects - one, a sculptural children's playground in a park, was produced collaboratively with three other sculptors, and made from ciment fondue over steel armature. The other was a design project with Brisbane city council, to re-assess and beautify the central village area of suburban Morningside. This involved a lot of creative community consultation, and liaison with landscape designers and council planners.
About this time, I also began producing illustrations and cartoons for magazines, and educational posters.
I had a call one day from Jason Baird, an ex Expo colleague, who had a consuming passion for making movie monsters. He invited me to help him create a giant octopus puppet, for a TV mini series of 20000 Leagues Under The Sea. This was my introduction to the film industry. While on this prolect, I met John Cox, who also had a workshop in the same block. He invited me to do some sculpting and painting for him as well. John Cox's Creature Workshop produces animatronic creatures for film projects. Over the years, I have been involved with many of John's creations, from the cute to the hideous, and had the privilage of working with many gifted and inventive monster makers.
One aspect of creature creation that gets my blood going is concept design. There is small breed of deviants, who love nothing more than letting loose, all of those imaginary beasties in their heads, onto paper. I hereby subscribe to being one of those! Occasionally, I have had the opportunity of wearing the concept artist hat, but usually just as a means to an end, if the official design brief was inadequate. John Cox has often given me plenty of scope to produce my original ideas as part of the process.
Recently, I had the great pleasure of being employed as a concept artist for a new computer animated TV series called Animalia, based on the hugely successful children's book of the same name by Graeme Base.
Throughout my working career, I have always tried to indulge my passion for painting and drawing, having four solo exhibitions since the '80s. More recently, I have begun to devote more time and energy to this, as much a quality of life issue, as any financial motivation. I love it!
Recently, I collaborated on an original illustrated children's story book titled 'I've Never Seen Anything Quite Like That!' with writer, Nicky Strang. We decided to self publish, with some help from the Regional Arts Development Fund. The book is proving to be quite popular locally, and is now in negotiation for wider distribution.
My other creative outlet over the years has been my involvement with the Mt Cotton Drama Group, an amateur theatre group who operate out of an old country hall on the side of rural Mt Cotton. Three productions a year have been put on consistantly for over thirty years, at least eight of them having been written by members of the group. Our unofficial motto has been "Improviso Ad Libitum" which roughly translates to "when in doubt, make it up!"