Tom Wills

This is the story of Tom Wills – the man most often credited with creating the game we now know as Australian Rules football.

Sent to a strict British Rugby School in 1850 at fourteen, Tom returned a worldly man whose cricket prowess quickly captured the hearts of Melbournians. But away from the adoring crowds in the desolation of the Queensland outback, he experienced first-hand the devastating effects of racial tension when his father was murdered in the biggest massacre of Europeans by Aboriginal people. Yet five years later, Tom coached the first Aboriginal cricket team.

Tom Wills lived hard and fast, challenging authority on and off the field. But when his physical talents began to fade,  psychological demons that alcohol and adrenaline  had kept at bay surged to the fore, driving him to commit the most brutal of suicides, He was forty-four and destitute.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Information coming soon

Ronald Ryan

Ronald Ryan was hanged at Pentridge Prison, Melbourne in 1967. He was the last person to be executed in Australia.

This series of art works is drawn from contemporary media images of Ryan and my own narrative.

Read the article Ronald Ryan: Martin Tighe by Larry Schwartz.

Landscapes

My landscapes are inspired by the heat, dust and productivity of the Mallee region of Victoria. Using discarded, rusting flat iron found on the wheat farms my compositions depict the Australian landscape in a unique way.

Rugby

Rugby is and has been a lifelong passion of mine. I am drawn to the game as a player, a coach and as an artist.

The national teams such as the Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks and British Lions and the historic contests such as the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-nations tournament have provided me with rich subject matter.

My rugby paintings capture the essence of the contest that exists between players on a rugby field.

Australian Rules Football

Every second Saturday during winter crowds would stream past my house heading for the Essendon football ground. The sound and even the smell of the game were most apparent from where I lived.

Australian football, one of only three international indigenous football games, is a game I see as exotic.

The proud clubs such as St Kilda, Collingwood, Geelong and Carlton, the oval grounds, the high marks and the hip-an-shoulders have provided me with an ever evolving subject matter.

Read the article A WORK IN PROGRESS by Janelle Ward.

Bronze Sculpture

Sculpture for me is an extension of my work as an artist. The timeless elegance of bronze attracted me to this medium.

My subjects are figurative and are carefully chosen before being modelled in wax and finally cast in bronze.

My bronze sculptures depict a range of subject matter including Australian football, rugby and animals.

Portraiture

To engage a subject and create a psychological and artistic impression of them is an enduring challenge for an artist.

Over several years I have entered works in the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. My subjects have included Ray Lawler, Jonathan Mills, Martin Flanaghan and Professor Jack Martin.