Michael Rowland – New Zealand Painter

 Rowland immigrated to New Zealand with his family at 17.  With a Diploma in Graphic Art from A.I.T. he’d landed a job at Robinson Printers as a graphic designer but he didn’t know anyone.  Enrolling at Elam changed his life.  He made friends, and found himself amongst people who had an interest in art.  Like many youngsters of the era, he also found drugs and it was a while before he was able to make sense of his life, although he managed to graduate with a Dip.FA in 1973.  Sense came, and the cleaning up of his act, with the Hare Krishnas whom he joined for five years. The experience took him into the deeper aspects of life and spirituality, and today is integral to his philosophical views around art and living well.

Born in 1949 in Hertfordshire, Rowland discovered painting as an 11 year old.  Everything about it thrilled him, from the immediately natural feel of a paintbrush in his hand, to the smell of paint.  Thereafter all else seemed shallow by comparison.

“On Friday afternoons we got four hours of art,” he says.  “Our teacher, Dick Farrar, was inspirational. He’d play Bob Dylan in class, and sometimes we’d make a trip down to the docks in London to paint tugboats.  I’d go into an art shop and disappear into the magnificent smells of linseed oil, and blank paper – spend hours looking at art materials.”

“Drawing attracted me at school, mainly tech drawing which was precise; but I liked all kinds of drawing, and remember going off as a 13 year old into woods near where we lived, to sit and draw trees.”

Painter Michael Rowland Prefers Oils

Although he prefers to work in oils which are more plastic and allow finer blending, he was obliged to extend his mastery to the use of acrylics after he developed toxicity from exposure to oils and turps, in combination with the lead paints and solvents he worked with in renovating houses.

“I’ve adapted my technique and have found ways to make acrylics work for me,” he says, “and these days I work with both.”

Working from photographs for accuracy, he nevertheless allows the muse to have her say. “Because much of my subject matter tends to be realistic, especially the buildings, I have to work with three-dimensional realism which means there are rules to obey around perspective. I accommodate the drafting aspect by drawing direct to the canvas in pencil, then blocking in areas of base colour.”

Working on up to six pieces at a time, Rowland moves from one to the other to keep himself stimulated. “The first few hours into a new painting are totally exciting, watching the process unfold my inner eye. It’s the opportunity to refine my technique, become more sophisticated; and there’s always the idea that I might be able to go further than I’ve ever gone before and really blow the viewer away. I guess there’s definitely an egotistical element to it.

“Mostly these days I’m interested in, and intrigued by, incorporating all that I’ve learned into each work,” says Rowland. “Exploring surrealism fascinates me, and if it expresses humour or entertains, then I think it’s good, but it’s easy to be over-clever with surrealism and produce shallow nonsense. Realistically though,” he says, “themes are tempered by the market which tends to prefer landscapes. I can’t afford to ignore the dollar. I learnt to charge for the value of my paintings because as a graphic artist I was used to being paid for creative work. If you think about it, people get a lot of value from a piece of art. They keep enjoying it for many years.  In an ideal world years of experience should be recompensed. I remember Peter’s wife, Sylvia Siddell, saying that Peter’s work didn’t become expensive until it was sold on by dealers, creating the perception of great value.”

“Art is the most privileged thing to do,” says Rowland. “It embodies the essence of freedom, narrowed only by the imagination. You’re self-employed, free to create, free to experience freedom. The only downside is the constant financial tone in the background.”

Michael Rowland Painting Commissions

Amongst many commissions, Michael Rowland has also produced major murals for Progressive Music Recording Studios and the Nambassa Music Festival stage, as well as mural panels utilised in the Future of Auckland display at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.  His work is consistently acquired by many domestic and international private collectors.

©Theresa Sjoquist

Resources: Interview with Michael Rowland, 21 Dec 2012

Edited September 2015