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 A
few years back, to the dismay of my art agent and publisher, I decided to
put aside my oil paints, canvas and brushes and go back to a more
leisurely interest . . . writing.
OUCH !!!!
What a crude awakening! Creating a manuscript was far removed from earlier
writing so easily received for publication in daily newspapers in
Australia.
During my forty years of creating paintings, I had the morbid displeasure
of rubbing shoulders with so called Art critics. Many would comment they
“got to know me” through my paintings - that they could tell when I was
“depressed,” and God forbid they saw too many bright colors – indicating
my life was a bowl of roses. Be that as it may, I was left with a feeling
of inadequacy, as though I could say so much more. Well, to a point,
the truth is, YES. They did get to know me just a little. Their
analysis of my paintings allowed me to maintain a smidgeon of anonymity.
It’s amusing it is, anonymously eavesdropping on critics at an exhibition
of one’s work.
They analyzed, scrutinized, theorized, and if the artist, God help the
poor bastard, isn’t to their liking, jeopardized. More often than not,
they attributed the completed work to the painter’s mood, his personal
life, even financial stresses existing in my life at that particular time.
It left me determined to put my thoughts into a new, more challenging
medium. One that couldn’t be interpreted a dozen different ways by ‘wanna-
be artist’s,” while guzzling down complimentary champagnes as they’d stand
back and cast aspersions on one of my ‘babies.’ My goodbye exhibition in
Port Macquarie, Australia, was a sellout show, not a bad swansong. It was
like – TAKE THAT! (and have a nice life!).
I needed a new mountain, a tougher challenge so, so I went back to
writing. So, here I am, living the dream. Hawaii!
To date I have written five novels. Portal, Fiddler, Vatican FileSS, The
Lucifer Sanction and A Passage To Burma. I’ve also written 'Mindpower' (a
psychological golf instructional handbook).
My works are heavily researched and in the most part, steeped in history.
I introduce a fictional story line to provide flow to the factual
background of each adventure. I've found this to be great ways to have
readers think about what the heck is going on in this insane world. It
hands me the reigns. I can steer the reader’s mind through a labyrinth of
world events, a much wider freeway than the narrow alley of an artist’s
canvas.
Meanwhile I relocated to Hawaii and met some wonderful people who inspired
me to resume painting. So now I wear two hats. My works since arriving in
Hawaii are exclusively displayed at Pacific Fine Arts, the #1 gallery in
Hawaii, and to whom I owe incalculable thanks for throwing me a rope and
pulling me out from between the pages. My latest work at the time of
writing this, is A PASSAGE TO BURMA. It has received two 5 star reviews
from PROFESSIONAL and very serious book critics, and for that I’m humbly
appreciative.
Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you'll travel along with me and
Drew Blake through A PASSAGE TO BURMA as well as previous and future
adventures. I promise it will always be a great ride.
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