My beloved husband, Michael has been sculpting for forty-five years. He has been welding even longer, having completed intensive courses at the age of seventeen as part of his apprenticeship. In fact, one of Michael's sculptures, named 'Screwed' (!) is the story of a project during the third year of his Mechanical Fitting apprenticeship.
Michael's love of stories began as a result of his first business, during which he began creating decorative metal sculptures. Prior to that, he had gone to Port Hedland to work, aged twenty-one and fell in love with the Pilbara landscape.
Later, involved in shutdown work in the Goldfields for ten years, he fell in love once more with those landscapes. To this day, the Pilbara and the Goldfields are his favourite places after our home in Heavenly Beverley.
So, where does Michael find his inspiration? The journey always begins with the metal artifacts we discover between Beverley and the Pilbara as often as we can go, usually once a year. We load up our quite small willing and able 1998 A-Liner Caravan, nicknamed Will and tow him with our nine year old double ute named Lily. We set off with the dogs, Lexi and Stella, and follow a path through the northern Wheatbelt, the Murchison, the Gascoyne and up to the Pilbara. We stop anywhere that interests us, which might be the remains of an abandoned building or a ruin or a disused tip or a deserted mine site. Then, we fossick.
We dress sensibly - jeans, steel capped boots, shirt, hat and gloves. Each of us carries a canvas satchel with snacks, water, insect repellent and plenty of room for treasures. Mobile phones are normally useless unless we are under the umbrella of a mine site. So, I keep our car in line of sight at all times. I also look for a landmark that will guide me if I can't actually see the car.
Fossicking is like meditation. The only time I ever shut up is when I am fossicking. Michael will call out to me quite frequently so he knows where I am. Time can and does stand still. In a glorious location, with metal surrounding us, we hear the birds and wind, feel the sun, and we are sometimes grateful for cloud cover or shade if the day is warm.
We might stop for a light lunch and share our treasures. Whilst we are fossicking, the dogs sit or lie in their crate, which we tie to the back of the ute. They can see us and have water, toys and treats. We look for shade for them or point the car into the sun to create our own shade.
From the objects we collect, Michael's mind begins to turn. A theme or a story will usually begin its genesis as we fossick or will germinate after a few days or weeks. We usually unpack the ute several times during our adventures, which gives Michael a chance to view the similarities, contrasts and the pieces' sheer beauty.
Fossicking time is precious to us. We focus completely on the ground around us, whilst being fully aware of the our surroundings and its inhabitants. As we have aged, we no longer move every night or even every week. From June, we are spending lengthy spells in Yalgoo, Onslow, Point Samson and Marble Bar. Even the ocean can throw up precious items that Michael can incorporate into his works. We relax into being one with the environment, whether it be fossicking or resting or watching the sun, the moon, the waves, the rivers or the beautiful landscapes of the Wheatbelt, the Mid West, the Murchison, the Gascoyne and the Pilbara.
And when we return home, we add our our new artifacts to Michael's collection. Recently, a very dear friend or ours, Henry (Hank) Kordas, who is an amazing photographer, spent some fantastic time with us, and created wonderful images of Michael's thirty years old cornucopia of found metal objects.
We were blown away by Hank's photographs as he presented Michael's artistic collection in beautiful detail.
We like to think that this snippet into Michael's world illustrates his skill, his original thought and his drive to push his boundaries further to create the most glorious and individual sculptures that continue to tell their stories. Any less would be unacceptable to his vision as an artist.
Come to the East End Gallery in Heavenly Beverley and see for yourselves...
And another - who you really don't want to hit with your vehicle!
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