Falklands : Richard Cockwell's Paintings
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 20.12.2005 (Article Archived on 03.01.2006)
The BBC's Dee Palmer chats with Richard Cockwell about his exhibition in London.
RICHARD COCKWELL’S PAINTINGS
A Report for BBC World Service “Calling the Falklands by D. Palmer (DP) 12/16/05
An exhibition of paintings of Falklands landscapes opened in London a few days ago. The artist is Cllr. Richard Cockwell (RC) and the gallery is Falkland House. I went along to the reception, which marked the private viewing and managed to get a few words with Richard. How does it feel, I asked him, to have his first London Exhibition?
RC: I am really quite overwhelmed and honoured to be able to have an exhibition here. I feel quite humble about the whole thing. I am amazed that people quite like my pictures and how well it’s gone. It’s so nice to see so many people here.
DP: They do capture, particularly the wonderful skies of the Falklands.
RC: That’s right and I think that’s really what I try to depict – the sky and the colour in the Falklands. It’s something which a lot of people don’t understand – what beautiful light we have in the Falklands. Most people like to paint Penguins and such like but it’s the landscapes, as far as I am concerned, are things which I really like to depict.
DP: How did you come to take up painting in the first place?
RC: On my 60th birthday I was in England between meetings and I had about 10 days to a fortnight to spend doing something and I thought I would go and take a painting holiday. I was fortunate enough to find David McEwin’s address and I went down to stay with him and this was the result. Admittedly he had badgered me and pushed me and had given me a hard time about it but, bless him, something good has come out of it now.
DP: I did hear that there actually wasn’t an Exhibition in September and you painted everything since then.
RC: There were three of four paintings already done but most of them have been painted since September. But that’s the way I paint. When I start painting I will do two or three in three or four days. Sometimes I do two in a day. Then I might stop for weeks. It depends on how things are going or how busy I am.
DP: Is painting a real relaxation for you in jour job as Councillor?
RC: Yes it is. Surprisingly it’s quite tiring and it creates a lot of tension trying to achieve what you want to achieve. You can’t just slap the paint. But I hope I am getting somewhere towards being a painter which people like. It’s quite good.
DP: Anywhere on the Islands which you particularly like to paint that you haven’t painted yet?
RC: There are so many places to paint in the Falklands. It would take a long time before I could visit them, I am sure. I don’t think you could ever finish painting landscapes in the Falklands. I want to particularly get out to Port Luis, Pebble Island, There are just too many places to name. I was on Bleaker a few weeks ago and want to paint some pictures. Everywhere I go I want to paint.
DP: I’ll tell you something, Richard, when you do get to Pebble, I’d like first refusal on a Painting of that wonderful, long, white beach there.
RC: You are the second person to say that but I will have to do two and you can have that first refusal on one of them.
DP: As I left Falkland House, the Conservative MP, Cheryl Gillen, who visited the Falklands a few years ago was trying to decide which of the paintings to buy. Her choice was slightly limited as, by then, several of the pictures already had a “Sold” sign on them.
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