About
Earl
Earl was born in Wanganui,
New Zealand. At High School,
at the age of 13, he was fortunate to be invited into a special art course by art teacher Ted Lewis who was a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London. Ted’s strong design
and draughtsmanship skills were a great help to Earl in forming a strong base from which to develop.
Leaving school he worked in the advertising department of a large national, department-retail store.
Moving to the capital city Wellington, Earl joined one of New Zealand’s largest and foremost advertising agencies. Experience widened by changing agencies over a period of time. In the 1960s Earl went to Sydney to gain further valuable experience in advertising and corporate visual communication. At this stage he was specialising as a designer in the creative aspect of visual communication.
A challenge to open Wellington’s first graphic design consultancy saw a return to New Zealand. The largest of all commissions Earl received was to design the logo/symbol and related corporate elements for the New Zealand Post Office. This was one of the largest corporate identity programs undertaken nationally. His work appeared in a book featuring work of recognised NZ designer/artists from the 1940s - 1970s.
A desire to return to Australia brought about a move in 1978, where he continued his graphic design career until retirement.
His favoured medium is
watercolours with all its
challenges. (It is a most
challenging medium, one
can be exhilarated … or
exasperated!) Earl’s aim
is not to copy the subject
but to paint a recognisable
impression of it …
to simplify and interpret it
with swift, confident, lively,
calligraphic brush marks.
To him the vitality of a
painting is more important
than total accuracy.
He has conducted many workshops, and articles of his work have appeared in “Australian Artist” magazines.
The paintings that you see on the Gallery pages are just a small selection of work completed by Earl. By clicking an image you can scroll over a magnified view.
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