At the commencement of a an exhibition in 1975 Kaye Osterfield (‘The’ Bendigo Potter) asked me the most amazing question. ..’Francis..do you ever have the feeling that you are going back to a previous idea, media or style and repeating some sort of cycle that almost entraps us unconsciously?”…
What a scary thought, but how perceptive!...’Hell yes!..’All of the time but I haven’t really put it into words yet!’ … and that was 30 years ago. As I said before. ...I met myself coming when I was going….etc
Once again I’m am turning my back on all those preconceived super realist ‘photographs’ I have enjoyed painting in the last 20 years. BUT some HAVE been VERY REWARDING BOTH PERSONALLY AND FINANCIALLY but I’m frightened of the ‘process typicals’ that have trapped so many gifted artists in the past. What ever you paint has style but I do not want to be trapped in
this typical style processes however pleasing they may appear to be – it’s like following a predetermined ‘recipe’ or script and ..’this is what it will look like’! And as one of Australia’s greatest watercolourists once said ..’Keep ‘em guessing Franc ..They’ll come back again another time just to see what you’ve done this time around’… (Lance Sullivan 1975)