(In search of the Spirit of Bennelong)
Sunshine! (reconnection 1)
(A guiding light for Sydney and Australia)
Size: 120cm (H) x 132cm (W)
Media: Acrylic and paper dots on stretched canvas
PRIVATE COLLECTION
This artwork is representative of a new light for Sydney and Australia.
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Panel (2) detail “When the Spirit of Bennelong returns”
(1991-1999)
Total Size: 510cm W x 110cm H x 5cm D
(4 panels + 1 maquette sculpture)
(4 panels + 1 maquette sculpture)
Medium: Mixed Media
Following are Thomas Keneally's words
from the final panel of the complete artwork (shown below).
Mr. Keneally did mention that Peter Garrett had input here.
“WHEREAS THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE ARE DRAWN
FROM A RICH DIVERSITY OF CULTURES
YET ARE ONE IN THEIR DEVOTION
TO THE AUSTRALIAN TRADITION OF EQUALITY
THE FREEDOM OF THE PERSON
AND THE DIGNITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL;
WHEREAS AUSTRALIA IS AN ANCIENT LAND
PREVIOUSLY OWNED AND OCCUPIED
BY ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
WHO NEVER CEDED OWNERSHIP;
WHEREAS AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE LOOK TO SHARE FAIRLY
IN THE PLENTY OF THE COMMONWEALTH;
WHEREAS AUSTRALIA IS A CONTINENT
OF IMMENSE EXTENT AND UNIQUE IN THE WORLD
DEMANDING AS OUR HOME LAND OUR RESPECT
DEVOTION AND WISE MANAGEMENT.”
- Thomas Keneally
PROPOSED PREAMBLE
TO A NEW AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION
Wording reprinted here with Mr. Keneally's expressed permission.
Wording reprinted here with Mr. Keneally's expressed permission.
This complete artwork was given to and kindly received as a gift by
NAISDA – National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association.
There were many contributors to the artwork.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE MORE DETAIL
CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE MORE DETAIL
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The Old and the New (1986)
Size: 100cm W x 130cm H
Medium: Mixed Media and Collage on particle board, box framed
The original artwork no longer exists.
This artwork was selected for exhibition
in the 1986 Sydney Morning Herald Art Prize.
Ah yes the journey to a better Australia is a long and winding road.
It's probably good that you can't make out most of the players on this stage
as most of them have moved on.
There's a whole another cast with a different story line to take us forward now.
You are one of the stellar cast members.
Truth is the luxury of the long and winding road of 1986
has now passed and we are looking at the more immediate message evident
in the top portion of the artwork.
i.e. "STOP, LOOK & LEAP"
has now passed and we are looking at the more immediate message evident
in the top portion of the artwork.
i.e. "STOP, LOOK & LEAP"
As a point of interest in the artwork the red light
on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was powered to flash on and off.
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+IN+THE+WET.jpg)
on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was powered to flash on and off.
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"Dancin' to the same tune" (2000)
Size: 120cm W x 100cm H
Medium: Acrylic on board
This artwork no longer exists.
While acknowledging the tireless work of some
in the area of Reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians
the whole process does look to need a shot in the arm.
How can we bring about Reconciliation in any area of difference
until there are enough individuals who are “reconnected” within themselves?
Everyone can participate in “reconnection”.
“Reconnection” places everyone on a level playing field...no excuses.
“One Life. One chance.”
Isn’t it time for some action?
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+IN+THE+WET.jpg)
Murray Rose (Redleaf) in the Wet (2014)
Size: 70cm (W) x 60cm (H) on plywood (unframed, no current hanging provision)
Media: Mixed media
POA
There I was sitting with the waves lapping the sand at Murray Rose Pool (formerly Redleaf).
Grey rain had blanketed the harbour with a misty cover so the locals were preoccupied elsewhere.
The beach to myself.
I was there to experience Murray Rose - in the wet.
I had met Murray Rose the man - in the dry - only once briefly in 2000
during the Sydney Olympics.
Interesting what you can pick up about a person in one brief chancing.
He was certainly pleasant.
The glint in his eye gave indication of one of those gifted lives of reflection.
So I mused that Murray had on probably more than one occasion
swum in the Baths here when it was raining.
Anyway I wasn't there to swim. I was there to observe.
The water was gently folding onto the shore
no more than three maybe four metres from where I was sitting.
My gazing was pleasantly diverted with a suitable Woollahra breakfast
that had just been placed in front of me.
My diversion also included reading a slightly moistened Herald.
The Page 17 headline read “Never again should we allow ourselves to be cannon fodder”.
Yes that sounded like something Paul Keating would say. Direct, to the point no waffle.
I don't think father figure carrying a big stick is an exaggerated descriptive of Mr. Keating.
His was an article talking about “violence, indefatigable valour, a cauldron of destruction,
young obedient populations, ideas of our Australian-ness, Anzac tradition,
resilience and courage in adversity, belief in all we had created here
resilience and courage in adversity, belief in all we had created here
and our responsibility in continuing to improve it.”
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Size: 60cm H x 120cm W x 4cm D
Media: Acrylic, collage on (2) co-joined stretched canvas's unframed
PRIVATE COLLECTION
PRIVATE COLLECTION
This artwork of a windswept field of poppies
might almost be called the battle of the poppies.
The left side of the artwork is weighted with red tones
while the right side of the painting leans towards green.
These are complimentary opposite colours
and could I suppose represent opposite sides
in any battle or viewpoint.
Interesting how finally a balance is achieved in the overall work.
This artwork is inspired by a beautiful photograph
This artwork is inspired by a beautiful photograph
taken by gardening writer Cheryl Maddocks
and her accompanying newspaper article.
Click on the image below to read the full article
which explains the meaning of the Flanders Poppies.
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Angela’s Visit (2015)
Size: 60cm (W) x 88cm (H) x 3cm (D)
Size: 60cm (W) x 88cm (H) x 3cm (D)
Media: Acrylic, charcoal on stretched canvas, unframed
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Following hospital surgery I was showered with a lot of love
from friends, work colleagues and family.
This painting is an expression of thanks for all of your kind attentions.
Angela was one of those wonderful people who visited
arriving with a huge bunch of flowers that I have painted here.
The actual flowers were bright red but appear here as the pure gold that yoo are.
Angela was one of those wonderful people who visited
arriving with a huge bunch of flowers that I have painted here.
The actual flowers were bright red but appear here as the pure gold that yoo are.
Thank yoo everyone for your heartfelt kindnesses.
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"A Visit to Angela" (March 2020)
Media: Mixed Media
Size: 122.5m (H) x 91.2cm (W) x 3.8cm (D) (UNFRAMED)
NFS
When my friend Angela was sick a while back
I visited her at home with this bunch of flowers.
It seemed like a good subject to paint and the video below
shows the development process.
The collage elements were supplied by Angela's work colleagues.
I utilised the time in isolation
during the Coronavirus pandemic to complete the artwork.
Angela is a most wonderful person
a warm, natural and humane individual.
I hope the painting reflects her colourful spirit.
WATCH A SHORT VIDEO
OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS ARTWORK (HERE)
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Two Vases of Flowers (circa 1993)
Size: Each approx. 69cm W x 94cm H
Size: Each approx. 69cm W x 94cm H
Medium: Acrylic on canvas board and masonite respectively, framed
Both artworks are held in separate private collections.
Both artworks are held in separate private collections.
Everything old is new again.
There is real delight in breathing new life into old works by painting over them
with something fresh but leaving parts of the old work to shine through.
The history of each work gives them more depth.
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Remembering Russell Prowse (2012)
Size: 100cm wide x 120cm high
Size: 100cm wide x 120cm high
Medium: Acrylic, gold leaf, encaustic, corrugated cardboard collage
on plywood (unframed)
PRIVATE COLLECTION
I had the great privilege of working for the late Russell Blair Prowse OBE during the 1970's.
This is a metaphorical portrait of him as a vase of blooming apricot roses.
The apricot roses are a reference to the rosebuds he picked out of his garden
The apricot roses are a reference to the rosebuds he picked out of his garden
and wore in his lapel.
This man was a leader and a teacher.
While he was a conservative, disciplined, balanced
and ordered man he was also highly creative and a humane human being.
and ordered man he was also highly creative and a humane human being.
So I have tried to present a certain formality in the work
but also the spontaneity and expressiveness of his creativity.
In this artwork I have wanted to say something more about the man himself.
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(TO SEE MORE DETAIL VIEW "THE GARDEN OF BEAUTY" CONCEPT VISUAL BELOW)
The Garden of Beauty ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI SCHOOL PADDINGTON (1994)
Size: 10m W x 2.4m H
Medium: Acrylics on brick wall
Design inspired and painted by the 120 children, parents, teachers and friends
of St. Francis of Assisi School Oxford Street Paddington.
Mural initiated by Mrs. Kathleen Neill - School Principal
Artist: Neville Williams assisted by Judy King
Creative Consultant: Cole Lagudi (Year 3)
The mural existed for around ten years but the passage of time
saw that the wall was repainted to plain colour.
This project demanded as much as any other project that I worked on over the years
in both the Corporate or Government fields.
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| THE GARDEN OF BEAUTY - CONCEPT VISUAL |
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After the Storm - Bondi (1993)
Size: 120cm W x 110cm H
Size: 120cm W x 110cm H
Medium: Acrylic, gold leaf, sand grounding,
collage on stretched canvas, framed
PRIVATE COLLECTION
There is some pathos associated with this artwork.
It was inspired by the loss to us of a young man in his 20's who turned heads
wherever he went not only for his natural good looks
but his unpretentious, simple, honest, genuine open nature.
The finished painting shows him walking alone along an empty Bondi Beach
following a storm.
Actual flotsam and jetsam collected from this beach
has become the landscape of Bondi in the artwork.
There are metaphors that can be drawn from this canvas.
The painting makes me wonder what sort of a legacy we are leaving
for the young people who are following us.
AFTER A STORM COMES A RAINBOW FOLLOWED BY THE SUN.
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Troy on the beach – Sand hills Cronulla (1992)
Size: 175cm W x 25cm H
Size: 175cm W x 25cm H
Medium: Collage on a weathered timber fence cast off
PRIVATE COLLECTION (No longer exists)
See if you can find Troy on the sandhills at Cronulla.
A creative use for a piece of old fencing found on a friend's country property.
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ONE FROM THE ARCHIVE
Study for “He gave us a song in our heart.
Thank you Mr. Utzon."
(1995)
Size: 80cm W x 58cm H
Medium: Pencil on cartridge paper
POA
The finished artwork (see below) received an Award of Distinction
from the Order of Australia Association
as part of their “AUSTRALIA my VISION” quest 1995.
Pencil drawing - Artist's Archives.
Finished artwork - Private Collection.
Finished artwork + The Award
“He gave us a song in our heart. Thank you Mr. Utzon” (1995)
Size: 100cm W x 83cm H
Media: Bas relief, acrylic, Silver Leaf on canvas board, framed
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“At the heights”
(Dover Heights 1981) (2011)
Size: 133cm W x 120cm H
Medium: Acrylic and paper dots on stretched canvas, framed
PRIVATE COLLECTION
This artwork is a reflection on my youth.
It is based on a series of slides taken one sunny day in 1981 at a friend's home.
I guess at this point I had reached a zenith moment. Top of the mountain.
It is based on a series of slides taken one sunny day in 1981 at a friend's home.
I guess at this point I had reached a zenith moment. Top of the mountain.
Height of my career and youth. Everything is ordered and had its place.
Mixing it with “the beautiful people” and they were. That's me in the pool....so cool.
From memory the view from this backyard scanned the Sydney City skyline.
Maybe the sky is pink because I saw the world through rose coloured glasses.
The blank faces in the painting are a statement themselves.
Our stories were yet to be written across our canvases.
These pics of the artist taken in 1981 seem relevant to it all.
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Size: 120cm W x 100cm H x 5cm D on stretched canvas
Media: Oil pastels, water based acrylic, approx. 1000 paper dots
PRIVATE COLLECTION
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"Bronzed Aussie" (Elizabeth Bay Dusk) (2011)
Size: Each panel of 4 panels measures 50cm W x 50cm H x 5cm D
on stretched canvas
Media: Oil stick, acrylic, paper dots
Panels can be displayed together in a line forming a vista, separately
or two on top and two below
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Don's Window (Kings Cross 1993)
(“Birth of a butterfly”)
Size: 250cm W x 200cm H (broadly approximate sizing)
Medium: Acrylic on (9) individual canvases framed inside a purpose built window
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Don was a good friend who has since passed away.
This semi-abstract artwork is my eulogy to Don and a homage
This semi-abstract artwork is my eulogy to Don and a homage
to all those who have the courage and are brave enough take on the challenge of their own life.
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This is a nocturnal painting.
You are looking at the reflections of Don's living room in his window at night.
Don once told me the story of a butterfly's struggle to break free
of its chrysalis so that it can fly.
He said even though it may look painful to watch the butterfly struggling to be born
if you help it break free then it might emerge with a deformed wing.
This will impair its ability to fly.
We all want to fly and emerging into flight can be a very painful process
but it is each our own process...no one else's.
Don's story of the butterfly was the key inspiration for this artwork.
In the artwork the final window pane is open. Daylight can be seen.
The paint here has been scraped back to the bare canvas.
The photo below shows the artist with Suzanne Archer Artist/Lecturer – National Art School
discussing details of this artwork during its creation.
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Goldfish Bowl of Flowers / Yellow Flowers (1993)
Size: Approx. 20cm square and 25cm W x 35cm H respectively
Size: Approx. 20cm square and 25cm W x 35cm H respectively
Medium: Acrylic on stretched canvas, framed
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Two artworks where a minimalist style is employed.
Love the idea of saying something with an economy of expression.
Leaving it up to the viewer to fill in any void using their own imagination seems valid!
Both works are held in separate private collections.
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STUDY 1 STUDY 2
Studies for “Calvi and the Guides”(circa 1995)
Size: Each approx. 70cm W x 50cm H
Size: Each approx. 70cm W x 50cm H
Medium: Study 1 – Egg carton cardboard collage, gold leaf,
acrylic on canvas board, framed
Study 2 – Acrylic, collage, binder medium on canvas board, framed
Both are held in separate private collections.
These are metaphorical portraits of people as flowers.
Here we have bunches of beautiful roses.
Roses quite often come with both love and thorns.
Some though take the time, care and pay attention to detail
by removing the thorns before presenting their bouquet.
John Calvi is that sort of a person.
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THE WALL (1993)
Size: 130cm W x 120cm H
Medium: Oils. Acrylic, Gold marker, Photographs,
newspaper clippings on stretched canvas, framed
This artwork no longer exists.
This artwork no longer exists.
The following words appeared on the artwork
adjacent to photographs of The Wall at Green Park, Darlinghurst:-
“They built their wall
and judgements' cruelty drained their souls
and left them empty of self knowing
All that's left is their mark up on the stone
A memory in a mirror
They walked their wall
Their empty beggars bowls screaming silence
Hollowed by the siphons of a civilized society
A temporary fix of flight
Over in a night
They dignify their wall
and pointing fingers turn on themselves
The judged released from judgement
A bluebird rising to the sky
leads the way to discovering the light
And from these ashes
a greater phoenix will rise"
- Neville Williams
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The falling(?) or flying man
No matter which way yoo hang this artwork it works.
Man of Inner Strength(circa 1993)
Artwork inspired by Bill Paton a man of inner strength
[“Guang Rong de ren” 光荣的人（glorious man)]
Artist: Neville Williams
Size: 120cm W x 133cm H
Medium: Pencil, acrylic, silver permanent indelible ink,
collage on stretched canvas, framed
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Can you find the falling/flying figure dominating this artwork?
Look past the obvious figures.
Look past the obvious figures.
The figure I'm talking about is placed subliminally in the work.
And perhaps this figure isn't falling at all.
Perhaps the figure is flying. Depends on how you view the canvas!
And perhaps this figure isn't falling at all.
Perhaps the figure is flying. Depends on how you view the canvas!
This poem appears in the artwork...
"Standing at the chasm's
brink
If you lean forward
just slightly more
You will begin to fall
into the bottomless
inevitable pit
Then with fear
forgotten
Falling
Becomes
Flying"
- Bill Paton
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Bill's Cafe (1993)
Size: Two panels combined 180cm W x 130cm H
Size: Two panels combined 180cm W x 130cm H
Medium: Bitumen, Gold Leaf, Newsprint, Charcoal on board
PRIVATE COLLECTION
"In the cafe of outside time
The outdoor cafe of time
Find a place to seat yourself
Where, without coffee or cigarettes or wine,
You may observe the subtleties of gesture and concealment
Measure the ghostly vestments of relationships
Judge the balances of need
And if you hear amid the hard-won myths of memory
A bird's momentary song
It will be as if you had been permitted
A cold glass of pure water
Before being moved on by the management"
-Bill Paton
This artwork was inspired by the above poem by Bill Paton.
The painting shows people alone in a bar (on Oxford Street Darlinghurst)
The main figure sits head down on table.
In front of him is his glowing “cold glass of pure water”.
In front of him is his glowing “cold glass of pure water”.
There was nothing half measured about Bill Paton. A real artist.
Bill Paton left us too early in his talented life.
This artwork was awarded the Community Lawyers Art Prize (CLAP)
at the 1993 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
(and what a great year's Mardi Gras that was)
(and what a great year's Mardi Gras that was)
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE)
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