A Creative Life

By Martin Vierdag

Martin Vierdag looks back at his transformatoin from a Dutch migrant child to a surfboard shaper, craftsman, and artist in A Creative Life.

He describes his journey from a surfing life in Victoria, Australia, what it was like to return to his native Holland to study fine arts, and how he became a respected craftsman and artist.

On his return to Australia, he held several exhibitions, also becoming a self-taught builder who produced many fine homes featuring stone and timber. All the while, he continued to produce paintings focusing on the human condition and our environment.

At the time, not many people found his work to be of interest, but the themes he has focused on have become increasingly relevant.

The book includes many photographs of the author’s paintings and domestic buildings.

While researching and producing this book, the author discovered he is on the autistic spectrum, which he found explained much about his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9781982298913

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 Martin Vierdag.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9892-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9893-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9891-3 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/30/2024

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

The Formative Years: 1952–1959

Migrant Years

The Surfing Years: 1963–1973

Art School Years: 1973–1978

Return to Australia

Wilkilla Road House: 1980–1989

Working at the Nursing Home: 1980–1982

Caroline Crescent House: 1984–1985

Observatory Road: 1986–1988

The Boonah House: 1990

Back in the Studio: 1988–1996

Fraser Road House: 1994–1996

Perrins Creek Road, Olinda: 1996–1999

Marengo Project: 2001–2004

Ending of an Old Life: 2003

A New Start

Kennett River House: 2008–2013

Carcass and Cow: 1991

In the Studio

Wildfi res

Volume Two

Foreword

I met Martin in Apollo Bay when I was looking for some help in stretching my own canvases. A very private man, Martin keeps very much to himself, only to emerge and become publicly active around important political or environmental campaigns. Then he becomes passionately verbose and active.

As we became friends, he slowly revealed the extraordinary aesthetic that rules his consciousness. Reading his biography, I was surprised at his creative journey, starting in Holland and awakened through his familial and geographical journey—all of which shaped his creative imagination, and as so often happens, serendipity had its place.

In this autobiography, he reveals the books that influenced him, the buildings he built, and very importantly, his urgent desire to express his thoughts and feelings on canvas. Not interested in notoriety, Martin still longs to set the record of his life down in some tangible form.

His large open canvases breathe space and subtle colour into the studio. His subject matter is psychologically intense. His concern for the environment is evident in many compositions. His witness of the foibles and absurdities of our species occupy him deeply, as illustrated in his choice of subject matter.

There are the beautiful portraits of family and friends, lovingly rendered, yet threatened by the nature and the vagaries of the human condition. His ocean assemblages, sometimes poetic yet starkly architectural and disturbing at the same time, are elegant in their design and execution. The exacting and beautiful finish of his paintings is reminiscent of the Dutch Old Masters, as is also reflected in his self-portrait, which is a tribute to Rembrandt.

It has been my pleasure to read this biography and to know this man, the artist Martin Vierdag.

Francisca Blom (Cisca)Verwoert

Artist

Preface

My purpose for producing this book is to document the work I’ve created over many decades and share it with others who may have some interest in my work.

Unfortunately, I’ve needed to go back through my childhood years to determine how my work came about, and how I ended up where I am today. It’s not a journey that many would have experienced. For many of us, we feel like we are but one of many thousands. I’ve maintained a low profile and live a fairly reclusive life, as I seem to find myself disconnected from the communities and society I’ve found myself in.

It was at an exhibition opening at the Geelong Art Gallery in 2009 that an old friend introduced me to some of her friends who were impressed with my work. They asked where I came from and about my history. I simply told them of my reclusive life and that self-promotion isn’t a part of who I am. Even speaking to them about my work made me feel uncomfortable. Now, producing this book, I feel as if I’m exposing myself.

The Geelong Gallery exhibition came about when, in 2008, I contacted the curator of my 1996 exhibition, Below the Surface. She advised me not to show my new work through the commercial gallery system, as she believed it was again me exploring the world below its surface. She believed it was better shown at a public gallery. The work I am currently doing is in the same vein.

Painting for me can sometimes be a battle. My natural inclination is to work three-dimensionally, but I find sculpture too costly to produce. Shaping and designing surfboards as a teenager was not difficult. It was simply coming to understand how the shape of the board worked with and reacted with the energy of the wave. The general principles I came to understand haven’t changed and are still relevant today. I moved away from board design, as I felt it limited many things I wanted to explore.

House design and building are also things I am comfortable with, even though building projects can be time-consuming. A house is but a sculpture that people live in. I have recently discovered that houses I have designed and built have gained a following. It’s not something I intended, but it does give