Ken Done and colour

I love the colour and naivety of Ken Done’s work. During the 80s Ken Done was at his peak nationally and later in the 90s he would rise to fame internationally. He painted Australia in the most colourful and unique ways from the Opera House to our beautiful reefs. I loved him so much, what little arty girl wouldn’t love the colours and the simplicity of his work.

My childhood was fairly privileged and my mum loved the arts so when I begged my mum to get me a Ken Done something… she did. At around nine my mum came home with a Ken Done bedspread, she always delivered a little more than I expected. It had my two favourite colours (still to this day); pink and blue. It was of the reef and it had fish and sea creatures galore! I simply loved it and was not expecting something so ‘big’ but my mum always went over the top with gifts for me. I snuggled in my prized doona for the next many years. My bedroom was going to be painted around his reef colours. I wanted blue walls so my mum painted them pink! I still have a feeling about that to this day (love ya ma).

My colourful Ken Done bedspread from the 80s. A place for me and my doggy to snuggle!

Each day, in the Blue Mountains as a child, I woke to the glaring and warm sunrise lighting up my bedspread and colourful bedroom. I imagined I slept in the (pink) ocean every night. As I grew older we would visit the Ken Done shop in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, each time I tried to get my mum to buy me something from there. I do have memories of a Ken Done pen that simply had his signature on it… I loved it!

Done’s unashamedly high-use of colour and simplicity had a major impact on me as a child and as one can see, an artist. To this day I still sign my art in heavy ink so it is visible to the eye, something that was inspired by Mr Ken Done’s signature on his works.

Recently I flew to Sydney to visit my mother and we went on a gallery tour of The (iconic) Rocks in Sydney. Ken Done’s studio was there and it was part of that days gallery itinerary. My poor mum, being dragged all over The Rocks by her youngest daughter in search of inspiration and awe! 

On the way to Ken Done I found another gallery, the work was bright and colourful… I was immediately drawn to the shop: squidinki. All the imagery was simple in appearance, fabulous characature  and it was bright… with pink, I loved it! Like Done, the work was Australiana. I spoke to the owner and artist; Max Mendez for quite sometime. He told me his artistic journey and how he ended up with a shop at The Rocks. He had success and I wanted to get every bit of advice I could from him… and he graciously gave it to me. For 30 minutes he went through his work, he advised me on what works and what doesn’t. I was so grateful that he was generous with his time and his experience, it was definitely a highlight of my gallery expeditions. I walked away with a tea-towel of a pink cockatoo, it sits in my studio today. Thank you Max!

Mum and I forged on through The Rocks and got to Ken Done’s gallery. I was mesmerised by the first painting I saw. It wasn’t like his well-known pieces, it had a maturity to it. It was huge and had a huge price-tag to match… if only! We worked our way through the gallery and I picked up ideas and inspiration. I am just in awe to this day of his international success.

Although my mum loves the arts, we have very different styles of what we like… but she was a good sport and followed me everywhere I wanted to go. My mum's love of the arts definitely influenced me. How else would a nine year old know about Ken Done or seen in person the real sculptures of Venus, and Mary Magdalene behind the protective glass! We didn’t go camping as a family, we explored the arts.

I don’t think my mum realised how much my bedspread would influence me and my work as an adult. My mum is more of a ‘fine art’ appreciator. As I write this blog I recall that she too has dragged me in her own art appreciation tours. In 1986 and 1989 he took me to see the Mona Lisa and other classic paintings and sculptures (mentioned above) at the Louvre in Paris. I remember thinking the Mona Lisa was a very small painting and it was heavily watched by security and it was brown… drab. I wonder if my mum has thought that perhaps she should have got me a more classical art bedspread when I was little!

I recently found my old Ken Done bedspread when clearing a property to sell. It bought back so many memories and I wondered what to do with it. As I was giving items from the house away I met a woman who was in financial trouble that accepted many things I was passing on, beds, bedding, towels, games, books even. During our conversation she spoke of her granddaughter and some of the hardships her family was experiencing. I asked how old her granddaughter was, she was around the same age I was when I got my (now vintage) Ken Done bedspread. I asked the woman if she would like my prized bedspread for her granddaughter. She said her granddaughter would absolutely love it. I was so happy she accepted and she was so happy she could give her granddaughter something special. My hope is that with whatever happens in this little girls childhood, she too gets joy from the bright colours of her new bedspread some 35 years after I did. Perhaps she won’t, but that is the magic spell I wrapped the bedding in before handing it over.

A colourful, political piece by me, 2024

I adore colour and began using it more and more in the work I do. I’m working hard to expel black from my work - I do however have Banksy constantly in my thought: everything looks better with an outline. The outlines are there - just in big bright colours. Ken Done, Keith Haring, Howard Arkley and many more two dimensional artists compel me to continue with my style, to use colour and keep-on-keeping on with how I express my view of the world.

“Colour helps to express light—not the physical phenomenon, but the only light that really exists, that in the artist's brain.”

- Henri Matisse.

~ atuk ~