Artist Profile

Art is a gift and one that I have enjoyed throughout my life. Along with that gift came another - a great appreciation for beauty, design and craftsmanship in the world around me. Both gifts have been refined through the years and the process continues. It is a delightful thing when they clasp hands and give birth to expressions of creativity that bless my soul and those around me. It is even more delightful when I sense that heaven itself is pleased with these expressions - when a little more of heaven is brought down to this earth. The gifts come from above and the expressions of those gifts are raised up as offerings of praise - lifted up to the "place where all the beauty comes from".

 

Art was always my key interest throughout my time at school. The gift showed through but it needed to be nurtured and shaped. Upon finishing Year 12, I entered the Advanced Certificate in Art and Design course at Outer Eastern TAFE in Wantirna, Melbourne. It was a brilliant and diverse course - pushing me out of my comfort zone to try many different media. Instead of going on to do the second year of the course, however, I was accepted into the Bachelor of Education (Visual Arts) course at The University of Melbourne. This was an equally beneficial path of learning to take for a young artist. The four years were not without their challenges but I grew so much through it all. My year was the last group to complete that particular course and I'm so grateful for that opportunity.

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Since then I studied primary teaching at Monash University in Frankston, Melbourne and more recently took the one-year course at Capernwray Bible School in Lancashire, England. This time in the UK reconnected me with my ancestral heritage and reconnected me spiritually with the God I love and with His Word. Capernwray Hall and its stunning surroundings have been the inspiration for a number of artworks over the years that followed.

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Most of my working life has revolved around teaching - first as a general classroom teacher and more recently, as an art teacher. It is a privilege to be helping to raise up future generations of artists - pointing them to the beauty of things that have been made and showing them the potential for beautiful things yet to come.

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As an artist I have plugged away at my craft, refining my technique in the time I have been able to scrounge over the years. I was blessed to have my first solo exhibition, entitled 'Glorious' at Burrinja Cultural Centre in Upwey, in the magnificent Dandenong Ranges - not far from where I grew up. Not long after, I displayed my work at King Henry Arts Cafe in Sassafras - also in the Dandenongs. 

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Pen and ink drawing has long been a favourite medium of mine - I am drawn to the fine detail and rhythmic quality of the line-work. I have also grown to love using watercolours and soft-pastels and continue to look for additional mediums that will broaden my range of artistic expression. I am captivated by the beauty, detail and fineness of the things that God has made and the things made by the creators He has made. I find myself looking wistfully over my shoulder at the beauty of bygone ages when searching for inspiration - while also peeking beyond the curtains of this world to a far green country where my feet shall one day tread. In my work I seek to capture those moments when heaven and earth meet and the soul is refreshed.

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I was blessed to come across Acme et-al printers in Yarra Glen along the way (now situated in Steels Creek). They have been reproducing my work as Giclee prints and cards for a number of years now. While I am not set up at this point to sell large quantities of my work online, prints and cards can be ordered by contacting me through this site.

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In 2022, I am now embarking on a new adventure - teaching art online! It's not a huge leap from what I've been doing but it will allow me over time to devote more time to my own-making while helping budding artists with theirs.

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Robert Kingdom

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