03.15
I painted this when I was about age 18, in Brisbane, Australia. Maybe 1973. I had left home in Maryborough for the second time, to find a job. I think I was working at Akubra Hats warehouse, South Brisbane at the time, and staying in a private boarding place in the outer suburb of Nudgee. It was at Nudgee railway station I met my lifelong friend and artist, Jim (Jimmy) Edwards. The theme of this painting was just a thought bubble at the time, maybe – anything to do with the macabre I suspect. And maybe I got its title from the song on the Led Zeppelin (iii) album. Who knows what was going through my young chaotic mind at the time? I don’t.
By the look of the work, it was unfinished. But I like that. The work has never been exhibited (until now), or framed. At the time, it was a fanciful topic, straight out of a novel, or just my head. But sadly, it takes on new meaning with recent impending execution of 2 of the Bali 9 Australians in Indonesia. Like this guy, I truly hope they get off. I am totally against the Death Penalty. State Sanctioned Murder.
This painting was 8 inches deep in muddy water when the 2013 Bundaberg flood came through my unit. Many of my old works were stored standing up, on the floor behind my front door at the time. But it cleaned up quite well. A little bit of swelling of the particle board, but not too bad. Some other works didn’t do so well though – and were discarded. It hurt a lot, but a good opportunity to cut back on “stuff.” Our lives are dominated by “stuff,” however apparently precious to us. I just hosed the flooded ones off, took some quick photos, and threw them onto the pile at the front of the building.
Detail No. 1.
Detail No. 2.