Flatland – A progressive exhibition which marks Rod Baxter’s 54th in a professional career as an oil and watercolour painter opens at Hall Place & Gardens from 7 August – 7 October 2012. His devotion to brushes started in 1976 and this is his 12th one-man show to date.
Rod Baxter (Photo: Tara Idnani)
The paintings are about the experience of being in a landscape, ever-changing weather conditions and the evidence of human activity. Dulwich OnView caught up with him at Dulwich Picture Gallery for a quick interview where he’s been working as a Custodian for many years. Rod, what’s your first thought if I say:
BRUSHSTROKES…
I use a flat and round brush. Worn brushes are for damping down or speckling. I like synthetic brushes. They are robust and stand up to abuse.
Rod Baxter: Always Up Never Down – Oil on canvas
WATERCOLOURS…
I paint in oils but in the watercolour manner from light to dark. I’m still learning to get it right.
FLATLAND…
The art of turning three dimensions into two dimensions to recreate three dimensions and beyond. Pictorial space: The final frontier. Beam me home Scotty!
DAVID IMMS AND CLYDE HOPKINS…
David said “You paint because you have to, never because you just want to.”
Clyde said “The marks you are making just look dumb.”
NINETEEN-SEVENTIES…
This is when I became what I am, although the rot might have set in earlier.
Rod Baxter: Several Rounds – Oil on canvas
2020…
I’ll be 61 and possibly hitting my prime.
DACHSHUNDS…
Every household should have at least two. Pierre Bonnard and David Hockney had a pair. Picasso loved his. I’m into my third. A dachshund will stop you thinking about everything except itself.
WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO WHEN YOU PAINT…
The classics. Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Slade ha! Ha! A lot of recent Bob Dylanwhose voice I adore. When he was young he sounded old and wise. Now he sounds haggard and resigned to his fate.
Rod Baxter: Devon Landscape (Oil on canvas)
WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN…
Never lend anyone your tools!
DESCRIBE A GOOD DAY…
Every day you breathe is a good day.
FIVE WORDS TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF…
He cooks a mean chilli.
WHO WOULD PORTRAY YOU IN A FILM OF YOUR LIFE…
Sadly Paul Newman is no longer with us. Bill Nighy would be perfect but a bit obvious. That just leaves Dame Judy Dench I guess.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ONE LUXURY ITEM ON A DESERT ISLAND…
Soft toilet roll.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED…
I’d just like my creditors to forget I ever existed.
Rod Baxter: Flatland – Oil on canvas
TELL US A JOKE…
In the early 1960s JFK promised to put an American astronaut on the moon by the end of the decade. Khrushchev, not to be outdone said he’d send a cosmonaut to the Sun. His aides advised him the poor soul would burn up to which Khrushchev said “No problem. We’ll land at night.”
Flatland – A progressive Exhibition opens from 7 August – 7 October 2012 at Hall Palace & Gardens, Bexley, Kent (see directions)
Hall Place & Gardens are one of only a handful of sites in the UK to have won the Civic Trust’s Green Flag award. Hall Place House has recently undergone interior restoration and construction of a new riverside cafe and visitor/education centre adjacent to the stable block by the river.
One Comment
I like your paintings Rod, will go and see the exhibition Judy