His works are held in many public and private collections and he has been a prize-winner in many prestigious events, such as the Moran, the Alice Bale and has the dubious honour of being 18 times a runner-up in the Archibald without ever having taken out the main prize.  His greatest commission was probably the Centenery of the Federal Parliament. Certainly the one that must have involved the most work, with perhaps 100 plus portrait heads! Not bad for a self-taught artist!

His work is well known for respecting the traditional conventions of representational portraiture. He generally works his compositions around the seated figure, usually in an interior setting with passive, southern light, good draughtsmanship, a conventional colour palette and uses a viewfinder to find his composition. He drew from early childhood, a way of life, literally anything (“101 things”), nature, still life, portrait. He also sculptures.

He tries to get to know his sitter, doesn’t use photographs, takes 6-7 three hour sessions. He places them on a raised platform (you can see it in many of his works) because he likes to align their eye level with his. He doesn’t look for a “candid’ portrayal, as the sitter is always conscious of being scrutinised. He doesn’t pose them but allows them to find their own stance, relaxed or awkward is part of the portrayal. This is how “they look most like themselves”. Body language important. He likes to imagine “how they will age”. Of Lowitja, he felt her hands were “so aboriginal”. He has a strong interest in indigenous culture and issues. A “smiling” countenance creates upward movement. He likes to sum up the image at first sitting.

On “realism”, he feels an obligation to present visual “truth” – rather than impose his personal take on the scene.

Palette originally contained lead white, but a bout with throat cancer has discouraged this, although he still uses it occasionally: yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, cadmium red, burnt sienna (very important), alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, sometimes cerulean or cobalt. He prefers to work from a minimal colour range.

He recounted how the Dessaix portrait came about. He had always admired his books and saw him one day in an airport but wasn’t sure if it was him. He did some small sketches of him anyway. Later, he confirmed it was Dessaix so he sent him the sketches and asked him if he could paint him. The rest, as they say, is history.

I met him a long time ago, quite by coincidence. I used to frequent the Marryatville hotel in Adelaide. He turned up there one day, looking very young and fresh faced, wearing a natty grey suit. This was when he was a cartoonist for the Advertiser. His nickname was “Alf”. He still has that youthful air about him.

- by Dennis Bentley, CAW Committee Member