COROMIND ISSUE 18 JUN24 ONLINEVERSION - Flipbook - Page 4
My grandfather Paul was an artist. I began painting in his
studio with some of his oil colours, many of which were homemade – by grinding raw materials and mixing with linseed
oil. However, most of my early work was in watercolours,
learnt by experimenting and reading books. No art school for
me, although I did attend a night class run by Colin McCahon
while at Auckland University. I still have the painting I did
then in 1958 of Albert Park pine trees. Much later in Whitianga
l attended Paula McNeill’s classes; from both, I learned
important elements of composition.
Painting was a parallel pastime to pottery, which was a full time
occupation for many years. I was a founding member of Albany
Village Pottery, which was a very successful outlet in the 70s.
Some people may remember Peter Sinclair’s TV programme
‘Happen Inn’ and other shows. He also owned Alicat Gallery
in Ponsonby and would buy whole kiln loads of pottery ranging
from small porcelain sculptural pieces to large crocks.
Our family came to live at Rings Beach in 1979, to establish my
pottery here. It operated for a number of years with brushwork
being a feature, especially on bowls – experimenting with
copper reds, particularly for pōhutukawa blossom. Then I
damaged my wrist playing badminton, which called an end to
potting and made me concentrate on my painting.
The local environment inspired a wide range of subjects
including underwater depictions of pāua, piper, seaweed
and surf. Judy Mehl of ‘Art People’ and Upstairs Gallery in
Whitianga held exhibitions for my art in the 90s. I now have
my own gallery at Rings Beach and have been a member
of Mercury Bay Art Escape for a number of years. There’s a
mixture of landscapes and abstract paintings on the walls at
the moment. The landscapes vary from realistic to stylistic to
bordering on abstract.
Abstraction gives me the opportunity to explore colour
combinations and unusual compositions. For example
turquoise on orange and red produce optical 3D e昀昀ects with
varied success.
For the past few years, I have posted a painting a day on
Instagram and Facebook, with my latest work featuring
dragons, typical of Viking carving and mythology. There are
quite a few Lidgards in Sweden I believe.
Instagram: warwicklidgard
Facebook: Warwick Lidgard
Words & Artwork by
Warwick Lidgard
Coromind | 3