Eris Fleming - Central West Medley
“Since the age of seven or eight years I have continuously entertained the idea of painting pictures. I grew up, went to University and subsequently practised medicine for a period of six years – and I painted pictures all through this period of my life. It has never occurred to me that I should endeavour to explain the pictures, their genesis, their realisation, and all that goes between. My paintings have no claim at being masterfully insightful – offering solutions to a troubled and divided world. My effort is about making pictures. If you consider artists such as Turner, Renoir, Degas, Bonnard or at home Dobell, Drysdale or Rees – those artists are painting pictures – not sending messages. Sending messages about the world is not my intention. My pictures, put simply, depict what is seen and experienced – and that which I recall from my early childhood to the present day.
A truly endearing character,
Eris Fleming at work
Memory plays a crucial role on my painting – probably the most important single thing. Marc Chagall said: “As is your nature – so is your painting” . . . . and it follows that as is your nature so is your recollection of events ie. your memory. My resultant pictures are a product of my strong feeling for the Australian landscape, my appreciation of the beauty in the small, sometimes seemingly insignificant incidents, and my abounding curiosity of eccentric personalities and their irregular behaviour. Intermittently I indulge some perverse humour.”
– Eris Fleming, July 2008
Eris Fleming's Biography – by Katie Barton, July 2008
Dr. Fleming does not have a doctorate in Fine Arts, as one might expect, but in medicine. In his previous professional life he was a general practitioner but ironically, due to his own major health crisis many years ago, he gave up his life of medicine to follow his heart instead, becoming a full-time artist.
The doctor's passion for art had always been a part of him but suppressed for many years due to a lack of encouragement, acceptance and guidance from those around him in his formative years as a young boy. Growing up in rural northern NSW he said “it was certainly not acceptable to even consider art as a profession' and 'the only paint you could buy back then was white shoe polish.'
Eris Fleming is the youngest of eight brothers, all of whom had been educated in their secondary school years at a boarding school in Lismore, which didn't offer art as a subject. Determined to go to a school that did, he found himself boarding in Waverley. Quite soon after his arrival, the Head Brother declared to young Eris, 'we've never taught art here and are never going to'. In his final year of school he won the chemistry prize and winning students were able to choose their own prize. When he accepted his award, he was surprised to find that his art book had been swapped for another because it had nudes in it.
In the early years of his married life and working as a doctor in Bathurst, he finally found some mentors who valued his interest in art. From 1971, Eris worked with the Head of Mitchell Arts and Craft College and watercolour artist, Jack McDonough, along with oil painter, Rex Newell. During his hospital rounds, he would often spot his friend Jack's studio light on and drop in to see him. Although Eris has no formal art training, he has picked up many tips and skills through his friendships with these men.
Eris and his wife, Judy, who live at their picturesque property “Khemlani” at Bakers Swamp near Wellington, are very much a team. They met and fell in love when they were both at universities in Sydney. Judy did Wool Commerce but took Fine Arts as an extra subject because she was interested in it, where she naturally found common ground with her future husband. But Judy said she didn't realise her husband's passion for it until years later. She has been the financial manager of Eris' art career, which has spanned the last 34 years and has supported them and their three (now adult) sons.
The greatest breakthrough in Eris's career was opening a gallery on their property in 1985. 'It's made a difference to sales and Eris as a name' said Judy.
Eris is a disciplined arts practitioner and spends at least six hours a day painting in his studio. Pictures to inspire, and quotes from famous artists and other noteworthy people, are attached to and written all over the walls of his fascinating studio. One of his favourite quotes is from Albert Einstein, “I'm not so smart, I just stay with the problems longer” – a philosophy and attitude he adapts to his own process of producing his vibrant, narrative and translucent works of art. Books and travel also provide him with an abundance of inspiration and knowledge.
Eris's work has steadily increased in value over the years and he has at least a dozen committed collectors of his work. We can witness Eris's popularity by the number of devotees visiting the gallery regularly in search of his latest work.
For more information please visit www.erisfleming.com.au
