A lifelong creative

Retired builder John Fitzmaurice was always on a path to becoming an artist. He just didn’t know it at the time. See his magnificent work at this year’s Sculpture in the Vineyards Festival.

I live on the Central Coast and I love to surf and I love the ocean,” John says. “I enjoy the challenges of working with metal. My father was an engineer which may have influenced my choice of material.”

His artistic process starts with multiple sketches in his sketch book before working up a model.

“Sometimes I use cardboard for a first model, but that won’t hold the twists and turns very well, so I often do models in very fine metal. Because I don’t use computer modelling and everything is done by hand, the scaled-up version of the final piece may well look a bit different.

“It takes at least three months to complete one of my larger pieces. The mirror finish makes them very durable, but it’s also labour intensive and requires extensive manual polishing.”

Read more about John Fitzmaurice in the Winter issue of Hunter & Coastal Lifestyle Magazine or subscribe here.

Save the date!
Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival, Sculpture in the Vineyards, is Australia’s longest running regional sculpture event. 2022 will mark its 20th anniversary. Running for a full two weeks from 10 – 25 September it’s a fixture for art lovers from across the region and beyond.
For more details visit
sculptureinthevineyards.com.au

Story by Cornelia Schulze, photos courtesy of John Fitzmaurice