On being creative.

Moving to Bali.

I moved to Bali in 1999 to paint. It became my passion and I would spend many hours everyday in my studio creating with oils. Over the years, I improved and developed my own style with flowers, portraits, male nudes, plus land and seascapes. I had half a dozen exhibitions and sales were modest but satisfying. Usually I sold half the painting on display. I also sold paintings to tourists when they visited my studio and saw the artist at work. Below are a sample of my paintings.

And then I met Bayu.

In May, 2007, I met Bayu and my life was turned up-side-down. Love will do that. Within a year, we were living together, had opened a restaurant beside my house and gallery and named it Bayu’s Kitchen, I was organising the construction of villas and renting out the completed ones to holiday makers. Our business, Private Ubud Villas began. My painting slowed because of other commitment, but I still squeezed in some studio time most days. Models would roll up and I’d make an appointment for them to sit, usually in the evening while Bayu was at work. I was committed to Bayu, and made sure the models knew they were only modelling for me – nothing else. I assured Bayu this was the case.

Along came Made.

Made, our florist delivery guy, was one of my regular models, who posed nude for figure studies. Dropping off a bunch of flowers, he asked when I wanted him to model again. We agreed on seven that evening, but I added that it was purely modelling. His wink should have alerted me, but I was unconcerned as he’d agreed to Bayu meeting him and even watching while I painted.

Bayu popped into my studio on his way to work just when Made arrived. Introductions were made and I invited Bayu to return later and see how the painting progressed.

Made stripped and sat on a stool in the private alcove where he could not be seen by anyone but me. and I began painting. An hour passed and the figure study was progressing well. I saw Bayu approach from the corner of my eye, but kept on painting.

“It’s good,” Bayu was still a few metres away and could only see the painting, not the model. Pointing at the penis on the painting he added, “Isn’t that a bit big?” Taking two steps closer he could see Made and added, “Oh, maybe not.”

Bayu tried to smile, but his lips were stretched tight. I knew we’d be talking after closing time.

Lying in bed, I listened to Bayu explain he trusted me, knew it was only painting, but his staff had made comments, that Bayu didn’t appreciate. At that moment I remembered my Mum’s sex education lesson.

My sex education.

I was about thirteen, when Mum decided it was time for my ‘birds and bees talk. Dad had no intention of assuming this responsibility, so Mum tackled it. The talk was fast and furious. 1. An erect penis has no conscious. 2. Keep clear of Granddad,

Before Granddad died a couple of years later, I heeded Mum’s advice and never ventured with him to the chook house. My cousins weren’t so careful.

Remembering Mum’s talk, I knew the truism of ‘An erect penis has no conscious.” In the Lord’s Prayer it is expressed as, ‘Lead me not into temptation.”

Made definitely was temptation as any other naked model could be, so that night spelt the end of my career as an artist. My relationship was much more important.

Voids need filling.

Without painting in my life, a creative void existed that I needed to fill. I’d enjoyed writing letters and emails home and to friends. Writing short stories seemed a natural extension. Later memoirs and fiction books allowed me to express my creativity. Writing was satisfying, but my studio stood empty. As the years progressed, I felt the need to combine both painting and art as my creative endeavour.

Back in the studio.

In late December 2024, I made the decision to reclaim my studio and paint, but I was determined to continue writing as well. I knew I needed help and employed Viktor, a friend of a couple of years, and he became my studio manager.

January 2025 was spent cleaning out the mess. Viktor went through the racks of paintings and found white ants had attacked many stretchers and canvasses as well. In excess of 200 paintings were taken to the dump. Neglect is costly. Then he tackled all the remaining paintings, cleaning each one. Next he applied glazes to older paintings, following my instructions. His preparedness to ‘give it a go’ astounded me and still does.

The studio was rehung with clean shiny paintings and we opened the front doors. It finally looked like a studio/gallery again and I was please to have people enter and have a look.

The pressure was on.

To keep Viktor meaningfully busy, I began demonstrating how to add decorative designs to larger paintings. Viktor added small stars to the sea of the mural painting below. He has since worked on others.

. I sketched a garden scene onto a large canvas and then had Viktor apply paint following my directions. It is close to being ready for me to add new colours and turn it into my painting, rather than his. Oni, our driver likes to help Viktor if he’s not doing airport runs. They are busy chatting and painting in the photo below.

And, I also find a bit of time to paint an entire original painting by myself. See below.

I have not returned to painting nudes. This can wait, but my writing can’t, so I also continue writing everyday.

What are you up to? Please share any of your creative pursuits with me. If you want me to promote your work to my following, please let me know and I’ll dedicate a blog to you.

Tags: #writing