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The h o m e - g r o w n talent issue

Volume 1 Issue 1BRISTOL

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Interview 01

BEATBristol

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THE LIFE OF BRIAN

When did you discover your ARTISTIC TALENT?

Not until I was 35. I studied for a degree in engi-neering, and from then on I worked in many dif-ferent industries - the tobacco industry, rocket-ry, computing - but nothing really satisfied me, so I packed up and moved down to Bristol and slowly began following my passion for art. Be-fore then, I had always dabbled in art here and there. An aeronautical engineering apprentice-ship taught me the discipline of using my hands, essential for sculpting, and I attended life-draw-ing classes for years. Ironically, I didn’t want to become an artist - I sort of just drifted into it.

What do you feel your FORTE is?

Definitely sculpting. I enjoy working with vari-ous materials, and sculpture is ultimately an artistic form of engineering; construction is important, otherwise it will fall apart. A sculpture always needs a good, sturdy base.

Are you a PERFECTIONIST?

I am not really a perfectionist, but I like some-thing to be right. I know when a piece is finished, and I know when to stop. I have experimented with different finishes and techniques over the years, but each piece has its own unique re-quirements. Sometimes things have gone wrong

with the mould, lead-ing to an

unexpected but pleasing finish [for example, the head with a tear running down one cheek] - you have to decide if you can learn to love it, or start all over again.

How did you get your work out there and RECOGNISED ?

I got my biggest job by cheek: I walked into the office for the S.S. Great Britain [in 1972] to criticise the way they were using fibreglass. I was asked how I knew about it and told them that it was the material I used for my sculp-tures - they then offered me a job. This led to me not only doing the figure head [for the front of the ship], but all of the restoration and trail boards. These were 34 foot long and 15 foot high. Once the exterior was finished, we moved onto the interior. I worked for them for about 15-18 years in total.

Has your work been in any EXHIBITIONS?

I have exhibited my art deco pieces for sale at the Ginger gallery near the S.S. Great Britain in Bristol, as well as the Annual Kingswood Village art show and the Cirencester craft market. The S.S. Great Britain is an ongoing exhibition of my work; the interior decor in the dining room of the ship was collaborative work between many crafts people, including a screen printer called

Local artist Brian Rothnie, 75, reflects over his 40-years of working as an artist in an exclusive interview with BEAT.

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Brian fixing the uniforn horn after it was stolen

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Chris Townsend, and a chap who painted the faux-marble effect on the columns.

What ARTISTS and ART MOVEMENTS inspire you? Are there any pieces of art work that really stand out to you?

I admire the work of Gustav Vigeland [a Norwegian sculptor], especially the Vige-land sculpture park in Oslo that exhibits 212 bronze and granite figurative sculp-tures. Rodin [French artist] is one of my fa-vourite classical artists. My paintings, how-ever, lean towards the art deco movement.

Do you work mostly from life, from photographs or from IMAGINATION?

A bit of everything. For a lot of things, pho-tographs. Generally I will have a picture in my head of what I envisage the end result to look like before beginning a piece of work.

Is COLOUR an important factor in your work?

Colour has come more into my later non-commissioned pieces that were made for my own enjoyment and development. I feel that colour is an important factor, but I am willing and able to change colours of pieces if a buying requests so.

What CONDITIONS do you prefer to work in?

When doing commissioned work, one has to be quite disciplined and work when you don’t feel like it. This is especially true when dead-lines are involved, and may even mean hav-ing to work through Christmas or through tiredness. I used to do a lot of work for a com-pany called Hayles and Howe, making mod-els for plaster ceiling roses. It was pains-taking precision work and the pay was not

good f o r t h e h o u r s it took. When I a c t u a l l y priced the work for the hours it took, instead of as a package, I priced myself out of a job! However, that meant that I was free to pursue my own ideas.

As a certain amount of con-centration is required, I prefer to work alone and away from the everyday noises of home. I used to have an out-building I could work in, whereas our current house doesn’t have a suitable dedicated studio area in which to work. I like to listen to radio three when I work, and before I gave up smoking 10 years ago I could be found with a pipe firmly clamped between my teeth as I worked. My colleagues on The Great Britain called it my life support system!

What piece of work have you

Man with tear (sculpture head)

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03been most PROUD of?

My work for the S S Great Britain would be my proudest achievement. I had only one or two people helping me, so I had a lot of responsibility.

HOW LONG have you been working as an artist?

Nearly 40 years. However, since my stroke in May 2007 I haven’t worked.

What are the DOWNSIDES of your profession?

It’s not a regular source of income. You can spend a lot of money on materials and take a long time to re-coup the costs – sometimes you don’t sell a piece of work at all. Non-commissioned work means having to come up with new and innovative ideas all the time, and means that the work does not go through a gal-lery where it would potentially be seen by a wider audience. It can be labour intensive and lonely. Many hours of work are needed for large sculp-tures and this means time away from your family and friends.

How has your work PROGRESSED over the years?

I have moved to a larger scale, and also have moved more towards imaginary sit-uations rather than depicting the reality.

Are there any projects that you WISH you had done?

There are some ideas that I had in my mind, which I did not develop; but over-all, I have no regrets.

Where do you feel art is heading? Is it-LESS EXCLUSIVE than it once was?

People who produce modern art will have to be tested in time. I don’t think art is any less exclusive as such, just different. It is still a form of expression.

Is your art a REALISTIC EXPRES-SION of the way you feel about life?

On a deep level, yes.

What QUALITIES does an artist need to have in order to SUCCEED? What do you think is the reason behind your success?

“I don’t think art

[nowadays] is any less

exclusive as such, just

different.”

Clay

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Mainly luck; it is sometimes all down to time and place. This was the reason behind my most successful works, at least. It also takes a lot of perseverance to achieve everything you want to.

How would you sum up your work in three words?

I did it. B

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nicknamed ‘Bod’ were

a result of a “slow evolu-tion of ideas over 20-30

years.”

Interview by Katie Lansdowne

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