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Brush Strokes

Casey-Ann Seaniger | OCTOBER 2008

Leonard Long’s love of the Australian bush has driven him to become one of this country’s most prolific landscape artists. Now at 97, after a lifetime of adventure from painting the outback with Albert Namatjira to exhibiting around the world Leonard is planning his 100th birthday celebrations.

Growing up Leonard Long was the boy from the bush who walked the New South Wales countryside with his pet wombat by his side, sketching the Australian outback in all its beauty.

Now, the 97-year-old successful oil landscape artist, who still paints full-time five days a week, is reflecting on his extraordinary journey and sharing some of his stories from over the years.

Leonard developed his love of the Australian bush and fauna as a young boy growing up in Mittagong, south-west of Sydney.

He was, and still is, captivated by the colours, smells and sounds of the Australian outback.

“The thing I like about the Australian bush is that when you get into the mountain country in the early morning you get that beautiful soft hazy light that comes over the mountains, and then there are those beautiful big eucalypts,’’ he says.

“I was born and bred in the bush and my pet wombat, who was my companion, and I used to walk to the mountain in the morning, we used to sit down and watch the mist rising up out of the valley- that’s probably why I love that soft feeling of the bush.’’

One of Leonard’s most famous encounters was with renowned Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira in 1958.

Leonard travelled to central Australia in 1958 and painted with Albert for six weeks before they held a joint exhibition at the Artlovers’ Gallery in Artarmon, Sydney.

Leonard describes Albert as a “great guy” even though he had problems with the drink.

“It was a very good experience working with Albert; he was a very interesting character and we would find a rock to sit on and we would just paint- that’s what we did,’’ he says.

“He used to ask me ‘how do you get a proper good one’, and that was his way of asking for help, but then when I told him he wouldn’t listen,’’ Leonard laughs.

Leonard was encouraged by a friend to paint ‘outside’, so that’s just what he did when he decided to travel Australia in a campervan for 15 years.

“I went with two other artists, one an Irishman and in those 15 years I did paintings and sketches and took photos.

“To this day those sketches are my most valuable property because I can still work from them now.’’

While art is a way of life for Leonard, it hasn’t always been that way.

After leaving school he met his wife Mary and they had three children before he trained to be a watchmaker and moved to Nowra, New South Wales.

After a stint away during World War II he returned to Nowra and started his own watchmaking business in an effort to support his family, but his burning desire for painting never left him and he became more involved with art, only as relaxation, never thinking he would one day make his living from it.

He ran the business for many years but finally had the courage to sell up in 1955 and take the risky road of creating art for a living.

“I’ve never looked back,’’ he says.

Since then Leonard has had many successful one-man exhibitions in all capital cities and regional centres throughout Australia and worked with famous artists from around the world including German-Australian artist Hans Heysen.

In 1959 he made his first overseas trip, painting his way through the United States, Asia and all over Europe on big commission trips.

Today Leonard’s represented in private and public collections around the world ranging from the Vatican’s to the Queen Mother’s and the Art Gallery of NSW.

It was not unusual for his shows to be sold out, as was his 1982 Roots of Australia exhibition in London.

The Australian Government also selected one of Leonard's paintings for presentation to the first Parliament of Zambia.

His kindness has also been unwavering with many charities and causes benefiting from his generosity.

Leonard was recognised for this generosity when he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 1993 Australia Day Honours List for his services to art.

“For many years I’ve been helping hospitals, schools, people in problems and that’s what I love doing, I still do it and I never did it to be recognised.’’

Despite all his successes, Leonard is no highbrow elitist, and has had many personal struggles of his own.

He lost one of his twin boys in a car accident and in 1991 his wife Mary died after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Leonard has many loving memories of his wife and doesn’t mind revealing how smitten he actually was for her.

“For three months I rode a pushbike over 40 miles over two mountains to Mittagong to have the weekend with Mary and then on Monday morning at 4 o clock I would ride back to Nowra for work, it took four hours but it was worth it,’’ he says.

“We had a wonderful and happy life together, travelled the world…ahh yes it was a great life.’’

Leonard now lives in Donvale, Victoria, and has five grandchildren and 13 grandchildren living in Melbourne and NSW.

He’s showing no signs of slowing down and has already earmarked plans for his 100th birthday.

“I look forward to painting my picture when I’m a 100-years-old,’’ he said, “And I’m hoping to have one final exhibition and call it ‘The Story of my Life in Paint’ with paintings from all over the world from where I’ve been and if I can do that it will be really something.’’

Leonard’s outlook on life is refreshing; he lives for the moment and it shows in his face and his health.

“I’m still standing on my feet, every day painting, and no way in the world am I thinking of giving up, I love it.’’

And his secret to living such a long and healthy life?

Well, it is about being healthy, thinking positive and maybe, just maybe, a little Scotch.

“I have a little Scotch at the end of the day, not a very big one. A little whisky never did anyone any harm,’’ he says grinning.