Grahame Sydney

A few weeks back we were paid a Monday afternoon visit by this amazing New Zealand artist. I don't think anyone's blogged about Grahame Sydney yet, so I guess it falls to me. Rightly so, 'cause I was the one with a thousand questions.

I've been a huge Grahame Sydney art fan since I was a tot. I share his love of Central's wide, empty spaces. It was when seeing for the first time 'Memorial Hall' that I realised if I could ever claim to be an artist, I would like to help people see beauty where it was least expected. I drove past that hall every day, twice a day, for years on end, without seeing it. And then suddenly, the day after I saw that painting, it was there. And I never looked at the Waianakarua Memorial Hall in the same way again.

As a film-maker, I'd love to be able to do that. Love to be able to change someone's mind about something, or help them think in a different way. That's why I was so fascinated in hearing what Grahame had to say.

One of the more interesting parts of his talk, in my opinion, was when he talked about why he frames pictures the way he does. 'July on the Maniototo' (or as I remember it, the Wedderburn Shed) has been sitting on our viewing room wall all year, puzzling me. What told him to chop off the top and left hand side of the shed? I can see that I works - it draws the eye through - but had I been framing it, my instincts wouldn't have pushed me to do that. Framing, he said, is all about courting mystery. What you can't see is infinately more interesting that what you can. What else? What else?! Well, Grahame likes angles. If you have an angle in one corner, see if you can mirror it somewhere else. Anything else? Tell me more! In order to create feeling, you must have contrast. If you want hardness, put in something soft. You can't appreciate warmth unless you've been cold.

Grahame's branching into film-making. I guess in that way, he's living the advice he gave to us. Back yourself, he said, 100%. You need to be arrogant, and completely sure of yourself to succeed. Woah! Anyone going to give us a class in that?!