04/09/2025
Well where has 60 years gone? F***s me (Excuse the language, but anyone who knows me, knows the queen’s English is my second language)
I’ve led an extraordinary life. From growing up in a family of ten in an extremely small home, with a stay at home Mum and my Dad a Boilermaker at Queensland Rail. Let’s just say we didn’t have a great deal, but we were soooooo happy.
Toys were a rare luxury and hand me downs were order of the day. But looking back, I never felt we went without. To entertain myself I would draw on almost anything, even the walls. Mum used to joke to me as I got older, if we removed the wall paper your artwork would be everywhere. So that’s where I learnt to draw. No university or sw**ky w**k college. Just many hours doodling on anything I could get a pen on.
I so wanted to become an artist/ cartoonist or even a signwriter growing up. I wasn’t particularly bright at school and my daydreaming and doodling got me into more trouble than I could count. I went to a strict Catholic boys school so I received the leather strap more times than I care to remember. But instead of breaking me, it made me stronger. It actually gave me a wicked sense of humour, which shines through my art to this day.
After leaving school in grade 10 (age 16) I became an apprentice Blacksmith in Queensland Rail. Following my Dad and my two brothers into the Rockhampton Railway Workshops. Well, I thought school was tough. This place could eat you alive if you were soft, so I hardened the f**k up pretty quickly. Guess what? I did and I absolutely had a ball for the next 32 years. Making some great mates, memorable times and even passing some wisdom onto some unsuspecting apprentices.
My time at the Railway wasn’t without art, actually it became part of it. People found out pretty quickly that I could draw, so when someone was retiring, or something funny happened around site, my talents were called upon. Let’s just say some were very R+ and would have me in front of a HR officer in this day and age. Funnily enough I would go on to marry a HR Director one day.
Anyway, I would go on to marry and have two wonderful children. A girl named Ashleigh and a boy named Blake. Around this time I was painting and started going to markets. As most artists this part is very daunting. It’s like growing up thinking you are a great singer, when everyone who loves you tells you that you have a voice of an angel and then you perform in front of strangers and find out your loved ones were full of s**t. Well, markets are like that. Strangers can be brutal. But hey, I sold some and that s**t right there encouraged me to paint more.
Things were going great and my art was going everywhere. I was basing my art on my time in Emu Park Lifesavers when I was a nipper and we would travel to southern beaches and surf between events. I was an abomination at surfing, but the easy going lifestyle inspired me so much that I wanted to put it onto canvas in my own whacky way. My other love also inspired my art….cars, especially classic and muscle cars. Then a global economic meltdown happened at the same time my marriage ended and my art struggled.
After strolling through the wilderness for a few years and not painting a great deal. I stumbled across an amazing lady that reignited a flame inside of me. Since meeting Katrina my art has known no bounds and the attention to detail even improved. Not only has she gone on to become my wife and best friend, she has become my manager and my toughest critic ever. But I love her .
To celebrate my 60th, she organised a South Pacific cruise with family and friends and it was bloody awesome. So I wanted to write this little tribute to her and let her know how much she is appreciated. Thank you hun.
Now I look forward to creating more art, I’m pretty sure my best is yet to come.
Cheers dudes and dudettes.
www.gerardkearneyart.com
