Artists – Special Kingsmen

I

Douglas Ivan Williams (At King’s High School from 1947 to 1948)

I recently took the time to catch up with Doug and Brenda WILLIAMS, to learn a bit more about Doug’s life, career and passion for painting.

Their home is laden with the most fabulous paintings, and the studio down stairs where the magic really happens, but I digress.

Doug spent two years at Kings in 1947 and 1948 – it must have made quite an impression on him, as he is a dedicated Kingsman and proud old boy. He arrived on the doorstep there having gone through St Clair Primary School and Macandrew Intermediate.

Doug is the first to admit that he spent too much time on sport at school, and not enough on education or listening to the teachers. He certainly wasn’t the first boy to do that, and he won’t be the last! I decided not to delve into Doug’s scholastic achievements at school, and he was not forthcoming on hat at all.

Doug was – “into everything – fives, tennis, rugby, golf, cricket and table tennis.” And he shared some pretty illustrious company in Pat Sidon, Warren Cooper and Ross Murray.

At the time there was no art department at school and he did “commercial course” – that introduced those destined for the trades into the basics of business – book keeping and budgeting.

Doug always wanted to be a sign writer. When he raised it with his form teacher, Mr. ANDERSON, it was pointed out to him that he couldn’t spell and he would need the biggest dictionary in history.

Undeterred, he left school and did his signwriting apprenticeship with Wrens decorating in Dunedin. Eric Watson, the famous rugby coach (and well-known Dunedin identity), was an early influence on Doug’s signwriting career.

Eric went out on his own, and Doug eventually followed suit having completed “his time”.

It was a bold move. At 21 years of age, in the mid-1960’s, Doug had little equipment and no work lined up. He went about setting up his own business in a room next to the Regent Theatre in the Octagon.  What he did have in spades was a natural skill of signwriting, and a desire to succeed.

Doug recalled that his first job was at, what is now the Rob Roy Dairy in George Street. Eric Watson was also on the site, doing a massive “Tiger Tea” sign on the outside wall.

Doug’s move paid off, and in no time, he had plenty of work on and his reputation as a skilled signwriter spread throughout town. In his small room in the Regent Theatre, he did thousands of AA road signs, and created massive signs (about 20ft x 10ft) for the advertising billboards around town – especially near the railways and the Oval. Signwriting bridges was another regular source of work. Doug is the first to confess that he is no fan of heights, and he was happy to let his employees do that work as his business grew.

Brands from a bygone era – “New Joy” Ice Cream, “The Cremota Man”, and “Du Maurier” cigarettes – were regularly painted up by Doug and displayed around town. No bans on cigarette advertising in those days!

As his business grew, Doug took on more workers, and eventually ended up in his premises in Stafford Street – which is now Johns Furniture Warehouse – with 4 or 5 signwriters in his employ.

Doug considers that painting a life-size, Cadbury’s Biscuit’s fiberglass “Cookie Bear” was the most unusual job he tackled.

Doug and his team went on to take 5 national awards with the NZ Signwriters association. The awards tended to be dominated by the big firms in Auckland, and it caused quite a stir when Williams Signs won their first national award for an Oriental design window, he painted on the Tourist Bureau in Dunedin.

Doug proved to be an innovator in the industry, and won national awards for painting whole vehicles – he did a design of a Jacques Cousteau underwater scene for Beggs Security and his son Geoff did the painting on it.

Doug recalled that the awards were held in Dunedin that year, and as chance would have it, the Beggs Van drove past the signwriting convention in The Exchange. The work was admired by the assembled signwriters and Doug took out the top prize with it.

That effort led to other signwriters across the country doing similar work, and it became a hotly contested category.

Doug played an active role in establishing the NZ Sign and Screen-Printing Association, and it has gone on to be a thriving body for the industry. From humble beginnings the awards have grown in prestige and status. The award ceremonies are flash and celebrities invited to the functions. Doug once donated a landscape painting to raise funds for the association. Dame Susan Devoy auctioned the work off and over $2,500 was raised – a pretty penny in the 1990’s! Dame Susan was so impressed with Doug’s work, that she made him stand up and be acknowledged at the function!

Technology and the arrival of computers revolutionized signwriting in the 1990’s. Doug was one of the first to get into screen printing in Dunedin and recalled doing hundreds of garments for Sew Hoys who were selling business uniforms and clothing. Screen printing was expensive to set up, but a great way to produce thousands of copies.

Once Doug hit 65 in the 1990’s he sold Williams Signs to Harbour Rugby identity Bruce Carvell. Bruce considers Doug a “leader, mentor, and innovator” in the industry.

And so began another chapter in Doug’s life.

He had always had a passion for painting and “retirement” gave him the opportunity to commit to that. Up until then, the demands of running a business and raising a family had had to take priority.

They say that behind every good man is a great woman, and in 1977, Doug and Brenda met. They had each graduated from previous marriages with their own children. They have been together ever since – officially tying the knot in 1983. It was Brenda that bought Doug his first easel, and she has encouraged him massively during his evolution from signwriter to artist.

He and Brenda moved to Tekapo, after selling the business, and Doug set up his easel. He started painting landscapes. He was (and still is) very good at it.

Doug said he was “as nervous as hell” when he started painting. But with the advice, support and encouragement of some already established artists – particularly John Badcock and Randall Froude – Doug’s talent blossomed and his paintings soon became sought after. Initially starting with oils, he moved to acrylic paints to avoid the harmful vapors.

Doug speaks fondly of a collegial relationship with the likes of Graham Brinsley, John Badcock, Johnathon White and Austin Deans. Their friendship and own talents helped Doug bring out his.

Doug’s worst experience in painting was when a commissioned painting, destined for a client in Auckland, was misplaced by the couriers. He had to do it again, but reflected that the second one was actually better than the first.

Doug and Brenda have fond memories of their time in Tekapo, but have now returned to Dunedin.

Doug’s son Geoff, not only worked at Williams Signs, but has gone on to become a very sought after artist. “He’s way better than me” is how Doug summarises his son’s talent. His pride in his son’s work is obvious. Geoff tends towards nudes and the human form, whereas Doug prefers landscapes. Both however, are drawn to painting boats and water.

With Doug well into his 90’s and battling cancer, he has had to curb his golfing. A long-time member of the Otakou Golf Club, and with a handicap in the early-mid-twenties he still has a hankering to get out on the course.  He still misses his old golfing mate and Kings Old Boy, Alby Gascoigne, who passed away in 2009.

Doug still spends four hours a day painting, and one cannot but be impressed with his work and enthusiasm for art.

A straight shooter, sharp as a tack, and with a gift few of us possess, is how I would sum up Doug Williams, artist.

Chris George – December 2023

While at King’s Alan won the Junior Athletics Cup being first in the high Jump and second in both the 100yards and the 220yard races. He was in the King’s relay team which was placed third in the Otago and Southland Secondary Schools Athletics championships.

Alan  was born in Roslyn Dunedin over sixty years ago and from early childhood, Alan was a prolific drawer. He was selected for special art classes at the age of six. He was intensely skillful in drawing people and animals in action. He was a genius. However, the journey of life pointed Alan towards farming. While working hard on his farm for over thirty years, he continued to draw and paint. Also, Alan become a tutor of drawing and painting in Maniatoto District Otago and he was an active member of Central Otago Art Society. Allan’s desire was to pursue Art full time, consequently, he took his family to Dunedin where Alan was able to use the facilities of the Otago Polytechnic evening classes to develop an understanding of bronze casting and other sculpting techniques. He was accepted as a member to Artist Otago Art Society. In 1988 Alan Immigrated to Australia with the intention of finding of finding the Queensland marble quarries and exploring this medium for his artistic talent. However, in Sydney Alan was presented with an opportunity to work with bronze at the Fine Art Bronze Foundry for almost four years. He was accepted to the NSW Sculptor’s Society and Ku-ring-gai Art Society. Alan was granted Australian Citizenship and his works have been commissioned for public and private collections. When admiring Allan’s work masters like RODIN and DAUMIER come to one’s mind.

Allan Somerville is a very accomplished and refined sculptor in all medium and a master sculptor. Alan Somerville’s sculptures are admired the same as one of the great masters Auguste RODIN and DAUMIER. Somerville comprehends the dynamics of the anatomy over the literal image of the body, precedent in his sculptures. Somerville complex subject and difficult poses display a mastery use of techniques and understanding the subject. His figure drawings and male sculptures are the most fascinating creations of all.

Alan Somerville achievements speak for themselves he obtained a countless number of awards and showing in many exhibitions. These are details of just some of his most recent.

AWARDS:

National Australian War Memorial in Canberra – Three bronze sculptures;

Centennial and More Park Trust – eight-foot bronze of Sir Henry Parkes;

State Rail Authority – Bronze portrait of Chief Executive, Mr Ross Sayer;

Lloyd’s Bank – Bronze horse for the Executive officers in Sydney;

Wyong Art’s Festival – Special prize for bronze male figure;

Ku-Ring-Gai Art Society Annual -1st and 2nd prize for drawing and watercolour;

Royal NSW Canine Art Show-1st prizes in sculpture, watercolour and drawing;

Royal Australian Navy – commission bronze sculpture of the Sheenan Trophy;

Castle Hill Blossom Festival 1st/2nd & Special Awards in Sculpture, drawing, watercolour painting and oil painting.

Norman Matheson (Matheson) Beaumont (At King’s High School from 1941 – 1944)

For Matheson, photography began as an interest at an early age but is now an obsession. Long considered to be one of New Zealand’s leading Landscape Photographers, he has been photographing the landscape of Southern New Zealand for the last fifty years.

His photographs distil the texture and light of southern New Zealand to produce images praised for their integrity, design and sense of place.

His pictures are held in Te Papa, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and in public collections in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Singapore.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Photographic Society of New Zealand, a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and was made a Fellow of The Photographic Society of America in 1974. In 1975 he was presented with a Civic Arts Award by the City of Dunedin and in 1994 was awarded the Royal Photographic Society’s prestigious Fenton Medal, for his contribution to Australasian Photography, the only time that a New Zealand photographer has been honoured in this way.

Matheson was a recipient in the Queens Birthday Honours list in 2006 being awarded an ONZM and in the same year, put a life time of work together in the beautiful publication – ‘Chasing the Southern Light’.

He was instrumental in helping to establish the New Zealand Centre for Photography (NZCP), which was officially opened in 1985 by the then Prime Minister David Lange.

Matheson’s images have found their way into various New Zealand books, a stock library and galleries. Up until 1972, his work was all monochrome but from then on, colour prints using the Cibachrome process. In 1998 he stopped shooting film and instead embraced the digital mode. All his images are shot in ‘RAW’ and converted in PhotoShop, before being printed on a high quality printer, using fine-art papers and Ultra-Chrome inks, which are known for their longevity.

Matheson still actively looks for and shoots new ideas on a regular basis. The McKenzie Country, deep in the heart of the South Island is his favourite location. Gallery De Novo has numerous works by Matheson available, both framed and unframed.

Adam gained an honourable mention for Painting and Art History in his Seventh Form year. He was also the Deputy House Captain of Stuart house.

On leaving school Adam gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, Otago Polytechnic School of Fine Arts.

Adam now lives and works in Victoria, Australia.   He is an artist and researcher. He works as a solo artist and collaboratively with diverse communities. Adams’ interests relate to representations of space – cosmology and social space through painting and the psychosocial effects of participatory painting.

Adam has exhibited broadly in galleries and site-specifically through Australia, New Zealand and Tonga. His work has been included in a variety of publications including: Eye Contact, Project Freerange, Un Magazine, Art New Zealand, Art News New Zealand, Scope: Contemporary Research Topics and The Artists: A Snapshot of Contemporary New Zealand Art Practice.

Alongside lectures and teaching at the University of Melbourne, Fremantle Art and Design Campus, Otago Polytechnic School of Art and Vicserv.  Adam has worked for numerous community mental health and social arts programs in various roles including leadership.

Recently Adam completed an MFA research project. During 2018 Adam was shortlisted as an Obama Foundation fellow for social change and a finalist in the 2018 Incinerator Art Award for social change.

Barry is a New Zealand fine art printmaker.

Barry was born in Dunedin in 1939. He moved to Christchurch in 1963, and studied at the University of Canterbury, where his lecturers included Rudi Gopas and Bill Sutton. He completed a Diploma of Fine Arts (Hons) in 1966.

He continued his education in Hawaii at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, before returning to the University of Canterbury, where he was senior lecturer in printmaking from 1978 to 1990. Barry returned to Dunedin following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, where he set up his studio on Otago Peninsula.

He has received numerous awards for his art, notably becoming the Fulbright Fellow at The Tamarind Institute of Lithography, Albuquerque in 1983. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Canterbury in 2005.^[2] He was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the arts, in the 2001 New Year Honours. Barry has represented New Zealand at various international print biennales, in Berlin, Krakow, Ljubljana, Paris, Sapporo, San Francisco, and Tokyo.

His work has long concentrated on etching, but in recent years has also included digital printmaking. His works are hallmarked by a wry surrealism and punning titles, using recurring motifs of animal skeletons, silhouetted horsemen, and shadow patterns. Many of his images make poignant political comments. These themes combined in the 1988 book A Series of Allegations or Taking Allegations Seriously, co-written with A. K. Grant and published by Hazard Press.

ONZM

Grahame Charles Sydney ONZM (born 1948) is a New Zealand artist, based in the South Island region of Central Otago.^[1] Since beginning his professional art life in 1974 he has worked as a painter (in egg tempera, oil and watercolour), printmaker (etching and lithography), photographer and writer.

His subject matter focuses largely on the sparse elements of human impact on Otago’s empty landscapes and the loneliness of individuals in this remote setting. In recent years, he has also consistently produced figure studies of his wife Fiona as model.

Sydney’s works have drawn comparisons with such artists as Edward Hopper, Vilhelm Hammershoi, Christopher Pratt and Andrew Wyeth but his images are saturated with a profound sense of the New Zealand south.

Sydney has been the subject of several major exhibitions. His work is held in public institutions (including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) and private collections in New Zealand and in private collections through-out the world. He now rarely exhibits publicly, occasionally collaborating with galleries but mainly working with a private client list.

In the 2004 New Year Honours, Sydney was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to painting.

Several books have been published on Sydney’s work: ‘Grahame Sydney Paintings: 1974 – 2014’ (2014); ‘The Art of Grahame Sydney’ (1999); ‘Timeless Land’ (1995). Two books of his photography have been published: ‘White Silence: Grahame Sydney’s Antarctica’ (2008) and ‘Grahame Sydney’s Central Otago’ (2011). In 2009 he wrote ‘Promised Land’ a history of the Otago goldfields.

Early Life: Born in Dunedin in 1948, the youngest of three children, he gained a degree in English and Geography at University of Otago, taught secondary school for two years (1971-72), then spent 18 months in London and Europe before returning to begin his career as an artist in May 1974. Four years later, in 1978 he was awarded the Francis Hodgkin’s Fellowship by the University of Otago. Since then he has lived variously between Dunedin, Mount Pisa Cottage near Cromwell and Central Otago.

Grahame has become one of New Zealand’s most significant and enduring artists. His work spans over 4 decades and encompasses oils, watercolours, egg tempera, lithographs, etching and photography. Rarely exhibiting, Grahame’s works are held in private collections throughout the world and represented in the collections of New Zealand’s major galleries and museums. Only occasionally collaborating with dealers, he mainly paints for a private client list. Always a meticulously slow worker, he generally produces no more than six works a year.

Since 2003 he has lived and worked in a remote corner of Central Otago, close to his recurrent subject matter. His wife Fiona is an integral part of his practice and occasional model.

Grahame has travelled twice to Antarctica as guest of the New Zealand Government. Unable to use his usual media due to the extreme temperatures he turned to the camera, which resulted in a resurgence of his long-standing love of photography and the book ‘White Silence, Grahame Sydney’s Antarctica’ (2008).

Always a willing writer, Sydney is the author or significant contributor to several other books including: ‘Grahame Sydney Paintings: 1974 – 2014’, Grahame Sydney’s Central Otago’ (photographs, 2011) ‘Promised Land’ (2009), and the much loved ‘Timeless Land’ (1995 [now in its fifth reprint]).’

He has been awarded an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for his services to painting.

Born in 1950, Norman Sinclair, the Artist was raised in the seaside village of Portobello on the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand. A move to Auckland in the mid-eighties and learning the craft of painting and picking up on the wisdom of Graham Chote, owner of International Art Centre in Parnell.

High country artist Norman, captures the life and especially the movement of musterers, horses, cattle, sheep and dogs against the spectacular backdrop of our high country. To do so he has hung out of helicopters, waded icy rivers, and run to and from around moving herds and flocks to virtually capture the sweat, the dust, and the smell of the animals.

Adam gained an honourable mention for Painting and Art History in his Seventh Form year. He was also the Deputy House Captain of Stuart house.

On leaving school Adam gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, Otago Polytechnic School of Fine Arts.

Adam now lives and works in Victoria, Australia.   He is an artist and researcher. He works as a solo artist and collaboratively with diverse communities. Adams’ interests relate to representations of space – cosmology and social space through painting and the psychosocial effects of participatory painting.

Adam has exhibited broadly in galleries and site-specifically through Australia, New Zealand and Tonga. His work has been included in a variety of publications including: Eye Contact, Project Freerange, Un Magazine, Art New Zealand, Art News New Zealand, Scope: Contemporary Research Topics and The Artists: A Snapshot of Contemporary New Zealand Art Practice.

Alongside lectures and teaching at the University of Melbourne, Fremantle Art and Design Campus, Otago Polytechnic School of Art and Vicserv.  Adam has worked for numerous community mental health and social arts programs in various roles including leadership.

Recently Adam completed an MFA research project. During 2018 Adam was shortlisted as an Obama Foundation fellow for social change and a finalist in the 2018 Incinerator Art Award for social change.

Justin played for the First Hockey eleven and was selected as an Otago under 17 Hockey representative.

A graduate of the Dunedin School of Art, Justin has exhibited throughout NZ, Australia.

Justin was named the Caselberg Trust Creative Connections resident for 2018.

His three-month residency at Caselberg House, in Broad Bay, comes with a $6000 stipend and $2000 for funding for residency-related expenses.

He was the Supreme Winner at the Cleveland National Art Awards 2017 and was a finalist at the Wallace Art Awards and the National Contemporary Art Awards.

He graduated from Dunedin School of Art in 2013 and was the director of the Perth Centre for Photography from 2004-07.
Photographer Justin Spiers, currently located in Dunedin, has a long-standing interest in documenting and exploring the relations between humans and their environment, especially, but not exclusively, with regard to the other animals that share their planet.

He is perhaps best known for “Pet Photo Booth”, initiated in 2005 with Yvonne Doherty while he was Director of the Perth Centre for Photography, a position he held from 2004-2007. Works from the “Pet Photo Booth” project have been widely exhibited in public galleries, including the National Portrait Gallery (Canberra, Australia) in 2009, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and the Australian Centre for Photography in 2012, as well as the Pah Homestead in Auckland, which houses the James Wallace Art Trust’s collection of New Zealand art, in 2019.

Kenneth John (John) Toomer (Attended King’s High School

Born in Dunedin in 1956 and educated at Kings High School, John Toomer left school and was involved in the retail sector from 1973-1988, during which time he was the owner / operator of Cookham Shoe Store in Dunedin.

Self taught with no formal art training, John has been painting professionally for over 30 years.  He has built a reputation as one of New Zealand’s premier realist artist’s of old dilapidated buildings, buildings in landscape and a painter of ‘brooding’ skies.  Subject matter is usually found in Otago and the surrounding Southern regions.

Painting’s are well planned and highly detailed, offering the viewer a dramatic interplay of start settings and serene moods intensified by his expressive handling of light and shadow.  His structures are often placed as isolated focal points, almost confronting the on-looker & providing poignant reminders of the past and of the human interaction with the land.

John has held around six solo exhibitions at The Artist’s Room Fine Art Gallery – and 13 overall – with eight of these solo shows being sell-outs.

He has also participated in a number of invited artist exhibitions and has been a regular exhibitor in most Otago Art Society exhibitions since 1974.

John has been a member of the Otago Art Society Inc Council since 1990 and held the position of President for four years from 1993 – 1996. In recognition of his service to the OAS John was made a life member of the society in August 1998. He also served On the executive of the Dunedin Community Arts Council – holding the position of deputy Chairman for two years.

As well as winning several awards over the years, Toomer’s work is held in many private and corporate collections across New Zealand and overseas.

In 1998 he was commissioned by the Dunedin City Council to paint the city / harbour view from Robin Hood Park to commemorate Otago’s 150th Anniversary. This was the same scene as painted in 1948 by Peter McIntyre for the 100th Anniversary, and by Robert Hawcridge for the provinces 50th anniversary. The original painting is currently hanging in the Mayoral Chambers of the Dunedin City Council. (A limited edition print was produced).

Painting in both acrylic and oil-his earlier work featured coastal, rural & mountain scenes of Otago and the surrounding Southern Regions. His current style is described as ‘contemporary realism’ and the subject matter features still life objects; old & run down buildings consisting of either homesteads, country stores, churches and railway stations. John thrives in using his unique technique to achieve meticulous detail using oils. His art is a dramatic interplay of stark settings and serene moods intensified by his expressive handling of light and shadow on rural themes.

In his final year at School Christopher was awarded The Art Department Prize and a General Excellence Prize in Art design, Art History and Photography. He played in the First Eleven Football Team and Gained a School Sporting Blue for Football. He also gained a place in the Otago Under 17 Football team.

On leaving King’s Chris studied for the Diploma in Graphic Design at Natcoll Design & Technology, Christchurch, NZ. He followed this with a Certificate in Logic Pro (audio sequencer) at Fresh Audio, Wellington, NZ.

From 2001 to 2005 he was a Web Designer at the University of Otago.  Here he completely re-designed the University’s corporate website, worked closely with a variety of university staff in the development and design of divisional and departmental sub-sites and advised on current online trends and technologies.

In 2006 he moved to “Shift” a web communications agency. Chris worked with clients like Park Road Post (Peter Jackson’s film post-production facility), Grant Major (OSCAR Award-Winning Film Production Designer), Education NZ, Tourism NZ, Firestone Tires, NZ Police, and the NZ Department of Conservation.

He moved to London in 2008 where he became a Senior Designer working on Web design layout from wire-frames to production, he created user interface design and web graphics for new channel launches such as Dave, Good Food and Homes TV, he presented designs in the corporate boardroom and group settings and worked closely and efficiently with information architects, project managers, and developers.

Then in 2009, he became Senior Designer for Splendid a London Design Agency with clients including Intel, Aston Martin, eBay, Wired, The Times, Barclay Bank, FlyDubai, and Gamesys.