MY MUSE - JOSH LANCASTER
MY MUSE: Sholto Smith
My Muse is probably a long-gone French-Canadian architect called Sholto Smith. Sholto Smith was big news in the NZ Arts & Crafts scene back in the day. He made his name designing some of Auckland’s most high-profile buildings at the time, many of which are still standing.
Some of my favourites are the Albany War Memorial library (which is slightly smaller than a large bookshelf) The Axis building in Parnell (former Chocolate factory, home of long-time resident Cibo) And the Tolaga Bay Inn - where an ornate carving on the landing observes ‘Life is but a staircase, some of us are on our way up, and some are on our way down’
Sholto Smith was also my great-grandfather and I often wonder what it might be like to have had met him.
What he might have thought of my paintings, any advice he might have to offer me… mostly though I wonder if we’ve ever sat in the same spot a hundred years apart and sketched the same view. I wonder how much of my creativity comes from him, and if perhaps the same thing that paints my pictures, is also maybe the same thing that designed his houses.
Or if the reason I am so drawn to the work of Canadian landscape painter Lawren Harris, is because secretly Sholto loved his work too? I’d love to ask him.
Sometimes I like to stand on the footpath in front of one of his houses. It’s prob a bit weird but I find it reassuring and connecting to know that once upon a time he must have stood on the same kerb.
These are a couple of pages from a very old sketchbook I have of of his - one features a pencil sketch overlooking Saint Helier’s Bay, a part of the world that sometimes appears in my paintings too. And a link to some of his work - I’m sure you’ll be familiar with many of his houses.
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