Down Memory Lane
The first paintings were done in rented accommodation. I was full of strange nostalgic imagery, even then. There was also a kind of literary dimension to my work which intrigued me. I thought there was always more to an image than the image itself. Like the first sentence of a story. That's why I like to write too, and that is why I like to write into my drawings rather than around the edge. I like the writing to belong to the drawing. Over the years that came to be the general drift and eventually a compulsion. My early years were not spent full time in an Art School. I did a part time day session in the Museums of London and especially the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington. Using pen and ink, water colour, charcoal, gouache and acrylic I worked frenetically for more than 7 years to really learn to draw. It seemed to me that if I was going to draw cartoons and convey some message, then the more accomplished the draughtsmanship, the more eloquently the message is conveyed. Those first paintings have since disappeared, and to see them even as old 35mm transparencies bring back memories. My Art Teacher, Leslie Richardson, now a sprightly 84 years old, told me not to get hung up on what is Art and what is not. The point is, everything is part of life and therefore part of Art. Art is not a separate pursuit divorced from reality. It is part of reality and simply pursues its own wilful way into other dimensions, some of which are the domain of the artist himself- his and her personal dreamtime. I thought beginning with my student struggles was a neat way of going down memory lane and learning, finding and remembering as I go. You too may learn< something, and see something interesting and revealing. I hope so.... Click on the Images for a Larger Version
Used Car Hell
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Contact: joe@ralphsteadman.com
