Environmental Portraits, The Artists Way

The Artists Way: Callum Davies

Recently, I had the pleasure of spending some time with emerging Mandurah Artist Callum Davies. He has always had a creative side having played drums for over 16 years, however, a bone disease and the stresses he was facing at work led him on the search for something that would be all-consuming, something to provide an escape, a way to distract his mind and a way to channel his creativity.

As we sat sipping coffee discussing all sorts of things, I asked how long he had been drawing. Nothing could have prepared me for his response, “since about November last year” (8 months ago for those reading in the future). Umm say again?.. If I had of taken up drawing 8 months ago I think I would have only just graduated to stick figures! I’m gonna put his achievement down to pure talent, although I’m sure his background in Engineering Drafting would help just a little.

It’s no surprise that Callum finds his inspiration from the ocean. Living only a couple of hundred meters away from a beach, he and his family spend quite a lot of time there collecting seashells while admiring the countless shapes, textures and endless life filling the ocean. I’m sure this is a major reason why sea creatures are one of his favourite things to draw.

Currently, after many requests Callum is working on a series of Australian animals with some local and not so local shops reaching out wanting to stock his prints. In between the Australian animal series, he has a back log of requests (I may or may not have added to this back log) as well as a personal project he is working on with his son. Callum is a big believer in supporting local business and tries to buy all his supplies locally as well as using a local printer to print his work. Each piece of work is a labour of love and can take anywhere from 8-30 hours to complete. I highly encourage you to visit his site and check out his work. In fact if you don’t, I’m not sure we can be friends any more.

I can’t wait to see what he does next.

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