User:Qtmonky/JEFF GILBERTHORPE



Jeff Gilberthorpe is a British ARTIST and AUTHOR.

Born in CHESTERFIELD, DERBYSHIRE, GREAT BRITAIN in 1939. A dual British/Australian citizen, resident in Australia 1992-2008. Known primarily for "The Icon Collection" series of paintings, also the creator of the "Kookaburra Creek" paintings and stories and a noted wildlife artist who has exhibited several times for the Wildfowl Trust charity in Great Britain. Currently living and painting in Spain.

Life
Born in 1939 in the Chestefield, Derbyshire. Exhibited artistic talent as a child, selling drawings and sketches locally into his teenage years. First exhibition in the village of FORD in SHROPSHIRE, consisted of paintings of birds and wildlife.

Compulsory National Service in the R.A.F from 1960-1963 was followed by a stint at art college from 1964-65, but a rebellious nature and dislike of the forms and conventions of the time meant that this early attempt at formal artisitic education was short-lived. Re-joined the R.A.F from 1966-74. Married wife HELEN during this period and the couple had two children while resident in CYPRUS. Well known in the british near-east command as an artist, succesfully exhibited several times while in the R.A.F. Also a champion armed-forces tennis player.

Returned to Britain and trained as a teacher at Nottingham University. His third and final child was born at this point. His first teaching post was at The Vintner's Boy's School in Maidstone, Kent. While resident in Kent he wrote his first novel "Furfield" and developed his unique version of pointilism as applied to pen-and-ink/watercolour hybrids.

Australia
In 1982 he accepted a job at the new Frematle Arts Centre in Fremantle, Western Australia. After a year in Perth the family moved across-country to Surfer's Paradise in Queensland. Deciding to work permanently as an artist he developed "The Kookaburra Creek" story in the early 90's which developed and expanded into "The Icon Collection" series over the next few years.

Spain
After building up a succesful gallery on Queensland's Gold Coast and exhibiting extensively in the Oceania region, Europe and America he decided to return to Europe in 2008 and settle in Spain.

Art
Although formally trained as a ceramic artist, pottery/porcelain pieces by this artist are now considered extremely rare and consist mostly of abstract spheroid constructions in porcelain and glass or delicate "cities" based on the hill-villages of northern Italy, often adapted into lamps.

Early works are usually oils or extremely detailed pen-and-inks, often utilising pointilism. Early subjects include landscapes, birdlife and architecture.

Kookaburra Creek
The first of the two series' of paintings for which he has become known, the artist developed the "Kookaburra Creek" concept in late 1992. A reaction to being stuck for hours behind a semi-trailer carrying a house up a mountain, this tale of a traditional "queenslander" style house lifted out of the way of a deadly flood by it's owner's judicious use of hot-air balloons led to a sequence of pictures detailing the flying house's journey over notable Australian landmarks, both natural and manmade. Several short films have been made on the subject with larger-scale book and movie projects apparently planned for the future. The Kookaburra Creek paintings are painted in acrylic and utilise a "magical realist" style.

The Icon Collection
Seeking to expand the "Kookaburra Creek" series onto the global stage, the artist developed "The Icon Collection". The story of an eccentric billionaire who decides to liberate the great buildings of the world by "kidnapping" them with hot-air balloons and stashing them on his island home/theme-park in the South Pacific now exists as two books and over 120 paintings. The paintings are acrylics and are known for their intricate detail and massive size - "Mount Rushmore" is two-by-three metres, "Great Wall over Hong Kong" even bigger.