Soon after Rosie Douglas’s death it was decided that a commemorative statue would be sited at Portsmouth. The life-size sculpture would depict Rosie alongside two of the island’s school children and cast life-size in bronze. Prime Minister Pierre Charles invited me to locate my studio in Dominica for that purpose. For many years my work had been on the theme of the Caribbean and had won the UK’s award for public sculpture.
Sadly the sculpture came to naught, but I stayed on and from my studio at Antrim I have been able to fulfil one purpose of the project beyond expectation. Whereas the original intention was that I should share my skills with Dominicans, I now share my skills with over half a million art students, artists and art lovers worldwide.
My online diary records work in progress on all the facets of the creative arts. Like the Renaissance artists before me, necessity has made me a man of many parts: painter, sculptor, print maker, publisher, book illustrator, postage stamp designer, writer, film maker, engineer, inventor, architect, fashion designer and craftsman. My past studios have ranged from a shack alongside an idyllic cove in the Virgin Islands to a cavernous church assembly hall in the North of England.
I began my diary thirty years ago as a means of enabling school children in the UK to follow work in progress on three major sculpture commissions. That was in the days before blogs, and my diary pages had to be laboriously posted each evening by way of a website. The postings were a forerunner of today’s numerous art blogs.
From my studio at Antrim my diary continues to give an insight into the triumphs, trials and tribulations encountered by those who toil upon the forge of art. It has been cited as one of the best art sites on the web. Schools and colleges use it as a valuable teaching aid and aspiring artists see it as a source of inspiration.
This week will mark my one-thousandths post from Dominica. Over the last fifteen years my diary pages have been viewed by over half-a-million artists and art students in over 90 countries. In recent years I have supplemented the posts with 12 books and 26 videos.
My diary posts, books and videos can be viewed on my website: studiopublications.org/blog
What an inspiring milestone! Celebrating 1,000 posts truly showcases the vibrant art scene in Dominica. Kudos to everyone involved!
Fantastic artistic work! Very proud of you, your efforts at lifting the arts in Dominica, and your humanitarian ethic, coupled with integrity. Long may you live and may others be inspired to serve the public interest as you have.