Ian began his talk with - As the saying goes:- “You don’t stop doing things because you grow old; you grow old because you stop doing things”.
He said he had always drawn to some extent or other mostly for his own satisfaction and it had never been anything fancy. It was often done quickly, simply & for himself.
His message to the Club was that art need not be grandiose or super detailed but plain and simple and done because you wanted to. He said he can draw on most things and that he had even used school exercise books and discarded library books.
He had always felt that there was unfinished business lurking in his background because he was unable to take art as a subject at school. So, when the opportunity arose, after he retired and had some spare time & energy, he went back to school – Te Kura – to do NCEA L2 & L3 ‘Painting’. The folio picture is of the Level 3 Art Folio he submitted for his final end of year exam and for which he got an Excellent.
Ian enjoys pushing out from the obvious as the portrait of him and myself shows and also enjoys painting for fun as depicted in the bath picture.