GRAEME STEVENSON RESUME
Born June 29th, 1958.
Graeme Stevenson was schooled at Marist Boys College Canberra and then spent last year at Tweed River High School, Tweed Heads. “I am in the hall of fame in both schools for my Art”. 1977 begun apprenticeship in Carpentry and Joinery at Murwillumbah Technical College.
Was apprenticed to Mirvac Constructions in that time and was building homes as well as working on Multi storey construction in Surfers Paradise. Work description was joinery and fitting and also floor layouts for multi-storey apartment blocks.
1979 worked in Sydney steel works producing Galvanised roofing and then worked as a roofer installing Galvanised roofing, also begun studying at East Sydney Tech College for the Arts.
1980 Began a career in NSW ambulance as a Paramedic was with the service until 1984. At the same time while studying for the Ambulance
I began my Training as a pilot at Bankstown airport. Rex Aviation I completed my License in 1981 and went onto Sydney technical college to study for my commercial ratings.
1984 I returned to the Gold Coast where I began my full-time Art career. This same year I left for the United States to travel and look at the Art industry over there.
I began a full-time career as an Artist mostly painting endangered species and began a lifelong journey around the Planet studying animals such as Lions, Tigers, Elephants, bears and numerous other wildlife species.
My Travels have taken me to America, Alaska, Canada, Asia, South America, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Middle East the UK, The Islands of the Pacific, Japan, South East Asia and many other countries.
In 1988 I began work on the Book, ‘The Atlas of Parrots”. One of the largest editions of its type in the world. The book is displayed in the New York, London and, Paris Natural history museums.
1991 I once again went back to Africa and India to study the animals again. Mostly a photographic trip for new material for my work.
I moved to the United States in 1992 and began work with the Bureau of land management assisting in the Peregrine Falcon research program. My work was spending large amounts of time in the wilderness studying the birds and also Abseiling down to the Eyrie to band the birds and check for egg thickness. I was also painting as much as I could during this time
1993 I moved to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada’s and took up lodging in a log cabin home. I studied the animals of the high mountains there.
1994 I bought a 40 foot RV and made my way once again back to Alaska. Where once again I studied the many and varied animals of the North, spent time with the Eskimos learning about cold winter survival.
1995 I was living in Santa Rosa California where I was painting full time.
Also through my time with the Peregrine Falcon research program began assisting with the migration and tracking of the Bald eagles in the lower 48 States, assisting with flying and airborne tracking of the birds as they headed north to Alaska. I was with the BLM on this for a few months working for an independent contractor.
1996 to 2004 I was mostly concentrating on my Art career. I was involved in a number of trade shows across the planet still living in the U.S but still very much travelling the planet in pursuit of images and adventure. That same year I came back to Australia and I began a business management course and finished in December of 2004. I returned to Australia in 2004 to be nearer to my family.
2006 I began a business that was to take me to The Islands of Vanuatu. I bought a 62-foot West coast Harris craft, ex Tuna boat and refitted it to enable me to dive for sea cucumbers in the 83 Islands around the Vanuatu Archipelago.
For two years I was assistant skipper (I had a Ni-Van Captain) and also had 7 other Ni-Van men on the boat with me. I acted as a dive master and also assisted the engineer with maintenance on the 585HP Cat engine and the Perkins generator and any other maintenance the vessel needed, electricals or otherwise.
I also was one of the first people to negotiate deals with many of the Chief’s of the Islands, no mean feat I can assure you, for the rights to dive in their waters. At the end of 2007, I came back to Australia, the operation of the boat in Vanuatu was ongoing at this point.
In 2008 I was approached by the Los Angeles based Fine Art showcase to appear on their National TV show broadcast across America to sell my Artwork. They had been selling all of my Artwork for about 8 years.
2010 I began to put together another project called, Put Some Colour In Your Life. I went back to College and obtained a degree in Multimedia and movie making.
I developed a TV series about Artists in their studios. A bit like the Two Hairy Bikers meets Bill Connolly. The show is now seen around the world in many Countries and on many TV stations and also on many video-streaming systems. We have other hosts now filming and hosting the shows and the series has many millions of people that watch it across the globe. The show was also nominated for a 2012 Logie nomination.
Put Some Colour In Your Life
Vision: To build a library of the minds of artists; to preserve a digital record of creative spirit, culture and techniques for future generations.
Put Some Colour In Your Life, or Colour In Your Life is a television series created by Master Artist and CEO Graeme Stevenson. It began in the small town of Murwillumbah, just south of the NSW/QLD border in Australia, and from this incredibly artistic region has spread out to encompass the arts and artists of Australia and the world.
The website, which runs in conjunction with the TV Series, was created in the hopes of building an Arts Hub for artists all around the world. Here, it is Graeme’s hope people can share their knowledge, display their work, and learn as much as possible from others. The episodes are also available for viewing, and it is here that Colour In Your Life hopes to create a library of the minds of Artists – a digital record of the many varied talents and techniques of artists that might otherwise have been lost when their time came. The website and television series offers investors, educators, students, teachers, and people all over the world the chance to have access to the enormous creative energy that is part of the minds of right-brained people. Art and what it does for our society is incredibly important to the spirit and souls of all that see it.
In 2011, after the crippling effects of the global financial crisis, it became apparent that people of Australia were no longer going out to buy or enjoy art. Over 50% of galleries across the country were closing, and it occurred to Graeme, after working with The Fine Arts Showcase in America, that it was time to take art to a digital platform. Realising that the techniques and knowledge of great artists are often lost once the artist has passed on, Graeme concluded that a television show that captures artists in their studios, creating their pieces, could be utilised as a digital library. He coined the term ‘a library of the minds of artists’, and with this in mind, he made the decision to study Film at a TAFE in Murwillumbah, NSW. By the end of this course, Graeme had produced the first six episodes of the now nationally aired TV Series ‘Put Some Colour In Your Life’.
Put Some Colour In Your Life, often simply referred to as ‘Colour In Your Life’, was fostered in the Green Cauldron of the Northern Rivers, NSW, with much of our opening credits hoping to promote Mount Warning and the stunning landscape. With the largest concentration of artists in the country situated within the Northern Rivers region, the series had some incredible artists come on board in the first few months. It was also during this time that Graeme met and began working with videographer Sophia Stacey.
For approximately the first year, Colour In Your Life aired on paid television channels such as Brisbane 31 and Melbourne 31, gradually building a name for itself. In 2012, the show was nominated for two Logie awards, one being for ‘Best Host’, and the other ‘Best Light Entertainment Program’. In 2012, Colour In Your Life began to air nationally on the network TV 4Me, run by the company Brand New Media.
As time progressed, Graeme began to further develop the website to match the television series, wanting to offer artists around the world a communal place they could speak, share ideas and information, and enjoy the show. A ‘Facebook for Artists’, as it were. This was developed simultaneously with the Colour In Your Life Facebook page, and now both interact seamlessly in an effort to further promote the great artists of this country.
The series has since been picked up by free-to-air New Zealand, Sky TV, Foxtel Aurora 183, and Virgin Airways worldwide, and Graeme is in constant talks with agents in America, and other parties interested in the series across the world. Receiving frequent feedback from other countries such as America, Canada, Europe, Scotland, South America and the Philippines, Graeme perseveres knowing that his artistic message is reaching people around the globe.
It was during the middle of the year in 2012 that Graeme and the team were approached by the Junee Correctional Facility, about the amazing impact the show had had on the inmates and their rehabilitation. From this, the Junee Gaol Episode was filmed, in which Graeme and several of the Colour In Your Life Team went inside the prison to teach the inmates. After this incredible experience, Graeme realised that there were more people across the country that didn’t have access to their creative right brain, and he began the process of creating the Paint Your Life Foundation. This Foundation will one day be able to provide creative outlets for all manner of people unable to access it on their own, from the elderly in nursing homes, people or children suffering from disease or illness, and prison inmates.
At the conclusion of the Sixth Season in late 2013, with the one of a kind and never before attempted episode on ‘The Three Amigos‘, it was decided that Colour In Your Life would travel to New Zealand during its Seventh Season, to film some of the incredible artists in their beautiful country. It is Graeme’s hope, however, that Colour In Your Life will soon be able to travel to countries all over the world, filming artists in their studios and preserving that knowledge and craft for future generations.
CV: Graeme Stevenson
Born 1958
Has lived in a number of countries around the world but lives in Australia at the moment
STUDIES:
- Murwillumbah TechCollege carpentry trade certificate
- East Sydney Art College
- Ambulance Paramedic
- Pilots license
- Cert 4 in Business management
- Multimedia diploma Tech College
EXHIBITIONS:
- 1984 Elizabeth House Gallery Sydney
- 1985 Blue Whale convention centre Los Angeles
- 1985 Proud’s Gallery Sydney
- 1986 Gold coast Art gallery
- 1987 Visions Gallery Gold coast
- 1988 Galloway Gallery Brisbane
- 1989 Nino Tucci Gallery Gold Coast
- 1990 Galloway Gallery Brisbane
- 1992 Visions Gallery Santa Rosa USA
- 1994 Visions Gallery Santa Rosa USA
- 1996 Lasson Galleries Las Vegas
- 1997 Munich trade show
- 2001 Galloway Gallery Brisbane
- 2002 Gelabert Gallery New York
- 2004 Escape Gallery Australia
- 2008 Fine Art showcase Los Angeles
- 2010 Perculator gallery Brisbane
- 2011 Melbourne Trade Show
- 2013 Graydon Gallery Brisbane
- 2013 Sydney Art Expo
- 2015 Escape gallery Australia
- 2017 Redhill gallery Brisbane
Awarded:
- Queens Honours List 2017 awarded (The Order of the Medal of Australia) OAM, for services to the Visual Arts Internationally.
I have never entered Art competitions, don’t need to.
Published Books:
- The Atlas of Parrots published 1990
- The Journey published 2009
Publications:
- International Artist
- Australian Artist
- Wildlife Artist magazine
USA Art Publications
- Artists Palette magazine
- New Zealand Artist
- American Artist Magazine
- Home and garden magazine
- Bird keepers magazine