David Wheildon
David WHEILDON Oosthuizen was born in 1946 in Durban South Africa. Finished his schooling at Hilton College in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal and studied art full time at the Durban Art School for three years thereafter. Most of his working life has been in the textile and floorcoverings industry running product development. His passion however is painting. Over the years he has developed his own unique style. Combining water colour on canvas with multiple glazes, a touch of acrylic and a dab of oil paint, results in the most pleasing effect. Deep, rich colour, combined with the texture of the canvas and a waterproof finish gives his artwork the destinctive appeal that has made him successful. Why Paint Under The Wheildon Name? His forbare Thomas Wheildon was the partner of Josiah Wedgewood in Fenton England in 1764. As a potter, Wheildon had a unique style and used colours that separated him from others in his field. Carrying the Wheildon name has inspired David to experiment and travel the path of individuality. Commission work has been wild life, landscapes, still life, people and events, giving the artist an opportunity to tackle a wide and interesting range of subject matter. With Art In Mind
Well known in recent years, for his pictures of Nguni cattle, David was born in Durban and can trace the family's associations with art art right back to 1764, when Thomas Wheildon was the partner of Joshua Wedgewood Potteries. His mother's father was a stain glass artist in Melbourne. David was educated at Hilton College and then went on to study at Durban Art School for three years. These years had a profound influence on his life and his determination to success has resulted in a long and happy association with Art. David now lives in Hilton and has been involved in textile and carpet design since he left art school. He has also continued to develop his own career as an artist and "paints mostly at night with classical music." The Nguni cattle that he paints are also very much a part of his life experience as his sister lives on a cattle farm at Underburg and his cousin, Martin Oosthuizen is married to Marguerite Poland, authoress of the magnificent book, "Abundant Herds". "Always use the best materials you can, you never know when you are going to produce something special". Watercolours can be very strong and should not be "wishy-washy", but a painting should also show feeling." He is definitely not afraid to test the boundaries and break the rules. "The best designs are from mistakes," he says with conviction a twinkle in his eye. "It is important to do something that hasn't been done before." David now becomes more serious and sounds a note of caution: "South African's are the worst in the world at copying each other. Someone initiates a new idea and in no time, is is being copied. The Zulu people are excellent designers and yet they are selling mass produced imported artifacts on the beachfront." David is quick to add that he believes we have some of the finest designers in the world, but we must learn to create for ourselves. David works mainly to commission. He has painted horses and cattle, but paints a variety of subject matter and expressed a particular interest in landscape painting. I asked him whether he had and particular highlights in his art career and he said that although there were many, he was particularly delighted when the captain of the visiting Irish Rugby side had sought him out to paint a picture of mountain to take back to Ireland. (He had heard that David was the best person for the commission.) |
I met David Wheildon at Elizabeth Gordon Gallery in Florida Road and the interview that I had arranged with him soon became a very comfortable and hugely inspirational chat about many different aspects of art - materials, techniques and David's philosophy.