Glebe icon discusses her art and inspiration

BY ROSIE LEWIS

In 1965 Robin Lawrence arrived in New York City with $60. She earned a living as window trimmer for a large Afro-American and Hispanic department store and could only just make the rent.

Working hard and taking risks came naturally, but her love for art could never be silenced.

Four decades later, Ms Lawrence is about to open her 11th solo exhibition. The 72-year-old art patron says she’s “in it for the long haul”.

Born and bred in Sydney’s western suburbs, Lawrence graduated from school at the age of 15 and won a scholarship to the National Art School, then called Sydney Technical College.

“It was funny,” Lawrence recalls, “A dear friend of mine who was an artist and painter says, ‘you drove me mad, there you were so young and you just took everything in like a sponge’.”

In the years that followed she travelled to England, attended Oscar Kokoschka’s International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Austria, worked as a teacher and tour guide in Italy, where she thoughtshe’d live for the rest of her life. That was until her husband’s career took her to New Zealand.

They finally settled down in 1967 after she had spent six weeks convincing the staff of New York’s Rudolph Steiner School that she should be one of their teachers. Lawrence taught art history there for 19 years, forming lifelong friendships and a strong affection for the American people.

But her mother and aunt were still living in Australia and she wanted to be there when they died. She also wanted her young son, Adrian, to experience this country.

“Too many Australians don’t come back and I thought, “I can’t do that,” she says.

Lawrence moved to Glebe in 1986, where she’s worked as an artist ever since.

“I like Glebe, I always liked Glebe… My whole philosophy of life is that rich and poor should live side by side… You get the whackos and the funny ones, it’s a good mix.”

She founded the Glebe Art Show in 1997 as an idea to help “perk up” a friend. Under her watch, the show has become more successful every year with a whopping 210 entires in 2008.

“The main thing with the Glebe Art Show is the spirit that comes out of it. It’s very organic, it just happens naturally,” she said.

Although she’s a proud member of Sydney’s artistic community, Robin isn’t afraid to point out that artists can be very egotistical and easily become “isolated”.

“I much prefer business men myself,” she laughs.

Her main concern is that young artists have no point of reference.

“How can you paint a picture without knowing what went before it’ It’s important to realise where you’re coming from,” she says.

“They don’t last the distance, they go flat out for a while and then they fizzle out,’ she says.

Her own practice is inspired by the visual, particularly how light falls during certain parts of the day.

“I don’t believe that you can do a painting unless there’s something visual that kicks it off.”

With a life as rich and exciting as hers, it’s no surprise that she doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.

“I’ll just keep on going, I’ll just keep on painting,” she says.

‘ Robin Lawrence’s exhibition, Studio Paintings, will open on September 23 at 6pm. It will run for two weeks at The Depot Gallery in Danks Street