Les Pascoe

My interest in Art began in my early childhood when I started drawing Disney characters in pencils. My parents noticed my interest in art and bought me some oil paints, a palette, and an outdoor easel. This is when my Art journey properly began. I learned painting techniques from Walter T. Foster Art books which covered subjects such as seascapes, landscapes and still life.

On a Sunday after visiting my grandmother, who lived in North Fitzroy, my parents and I went to the Melbourne Museum where I viewed the works of the 'Old Masters' oil paintings displayed in the gallery at that time. I was in awe of the beauty of these paintings. Ordinary suburban life seemed mundane and boring after being introduced to the 'Old Masters' such as Titian, Rueben’s, Rembrandt, and Gainsborough, just to mention a few. Around this time, I also discovered the Dutch painter ‘Johannes Vermeer’ when my sister gave me a book on his life and works.

My first experience of 'en plein air' painting was when we visited and camped at Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. The scenery and brilliant colour of these mountain ranges was magnificent. Back home I started to do paintings of flowers, still life’s, some portraits, and landscapes. Painting outdoors captured my heart and at the age of 20 years began to take trips to the countryside. I painted outdoors for a number of years, and I also began to enter Art Shows. 

While painting outdoors on location, I met some interesting people. An unusual incident was when I was painting an old wooden Church in the Dandenong’s. I was unaware at the time that this building was to be demolished and a new one built. While I was painting it, I was approached by a Church member who offered to buy the painting. From that one sale I then had four more commissions from other members of the congregation. I was told that one of the paintings will be placed on display in the new building. It may still be there today.