Geoff Smith, also known as ‘Speed’ and painting under the name of Speedline Art, spent his early years on his parents’ 4,000 acre farm – 70 miles inland from the town of Esperance on the Western Australia coast. His home town was a one-pub-post-office-and-wheat-silo-town called Grass Patch.
Finishing boarding school at the age of 16, Geoff returned to work on the farm. He travelled to the coast on weekends with a friend and discovered surfing, which has remained a major influence on his way of life throughout the past 36 years.
From an early age he showed a strong interest in art, firstly with pencils and watercolours; then with a set of oils that his elder sister sent home from the city. Being from a rural background, the pursuit of an art career was never seriously considered. Hard labour was the accepted way to make a living. The years from 16 onwards were spent doing several jobs on the land … cropping, harvesting and working in shearing sheds until eventually moving into the building industry and working with stone. Money earned from these stints of work went into funding months of living and surfing on the isolated coastlines of South Australia and Western Australia.
This story is from the No 169 edition of Artists Palette.
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This story is from the No 169 edition of Artists Palette.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Eye of Observation
Draw, draw, and draw some more; develop your artist’s eye of observation. Sterling advice from a lady who believes that seeing shapes in paintings requires a truly ‘arty’ eye.
Pelicans To Portraits
This lady has painted everything from pelicans to portraits. She has completed commissions including cats, dogs, horses, possums, numerous beach scenes … and even a Scottish piper.
Gregory John Brennan: Lost Profession
Looking back on his early career as a bulldozer driver, this rural New South Wales painter laments the days when he was too young to appreciate his outstanding potential as an artist.
Pastels: Once We Were Important
A simplified and well named painting tells a powerful and interesting story. This clever pastel artist is delighted to share her techniques for the benefit of others.
Fibre Art
This artist feels that the hardest lesson she had to learn was to believe in herself … and once she did that, everything started to fall into place and her confidence grew.
Water Lily Magic
Instead of paper and paint, this artist uses fabric and threads … and she uses a sewing machine instead of a brush. The textures, colours and prints of fabrics thrown together with threads fascinate her, and often give inspiration for her designs.
Loading Wheat – 1920s
It is rare to see an artist displaying this level of skill and understanding in capturing the activity and atmosphere of bygone days from Australia’s agricultural history.
‘Jama' – King Cheetah
This exquisitely talented lady believes that every artist has failures … but it is important to remember that every success is better than the one before.
Blahuta's Ute
Early in the year we ran a feature about ‘Utes in the Paddock’ – a landmark project by several notable artists. In this article, one of those artists shares his story and some of his views … and describes the process of creating his own piece of an amazing collaborative work.
Artists' Easels
Many important tools are employed by artists in creating their paintings. Artists’ easels are now available in a host of styles and configurations to enhance the creative process. Some of your favourite art materials suppliers are more than pleased to highlight a selection of the many products being offered.
