Peter Russell-Clarke

‘Fifty Shades of Porch Thoughts’

Australian television personality, chef, author and artist, Peter Russell-Clarke is at heart, a unique and talented story-teller. Ask him a simple question and often you’ll receive a decorative or insightful response that he will cleverly frame and leave hanging in the back of your mind to revisit when inspiration is required. At 77, Peter is on the ball and continuing to light up the world with much more than his highly sought after paintings. When discussing his family home that burnt down earlier in the year, his ‘life goes on’ and ‘it was a blessing in disguise’ outlook is inspiration to anyone facing adversity.

Peter and his wife Jan were in the USA when they received their life-changing news and upon returning to their property in Tooborac, south of Heathcote, they discovered they had lost everything, including four books Peter had completed for publication and a collection of 50 framed paintings ready to exhibit.

With Peter’s can do attitude and determination to rebuild his life with Jan, Peter’s first ‘comeback’ art exhibition opens tonight in South Melbourne and will run until 22 September. I caught up with Peter on his Porch at the Tooborac B&B ahead of his road trip to Mildura, where he was the event ambassador at the Merbein Festival over the weekend.

On Facebook, you summed up your house burning down as, ‘shit happens’ and ‘life goes on’. Why such an outlook?
We don’t own things, we take care of them. For instance I had a statue that was lost in the fire that was carved 2000 BC and obviously it had a lot of owners before me had it survived, it would have had a lot more owners. We don’t own things, we share them. I believe nothing is forever, other than your marriage.

If you could have one thing back you lost in the fire, what would it be?
My sense of security.

You were overseas at the time for your son’s wedding and doing work as a food ambassador to the United Nations concerning co-operatives, what were you doing when you received the call?
I was sitting having breakfast with my daughter and she took the phone call from my son and she turned white and was clearly shaking. She kept repeating, “Oh My God,” which made me immediately think something had happened to our grandchild. I became distressed listening to her. When she told us that our house had burnt down, we were relieved. It was only our house.

On the theory of turning lemons into lemonade, what is one feature your new house will now include?
I like trees and I don’t see why trees should be only on the outside of houses. I want them to grow on the inside to hold the roof up. Imagine an umbrella with the cloth off it, standing in the middle of the room holding the roof up and the top sprouts many branches. I have to do is convince the council that I’m not crazy.

You will be the ambassador at the Merbein Festival over the weekend cooking with local fresh product. What original recipe will you create?
I will cook with dried fruits, almonds and their local lamb. I’ll call it, ‘Merbein Madness’.

What do you enjoy most, cooking or painting?
I believe they come from the same palette. With cooking you are dealing with texture, form, shape and colour. It’s the same as a creating a painting. They both have to be visually appealing. Usually with a painting you put a frame around it, with your food, the plate becomes the frame. Paintings and food both need to tell a story and create interest.

What will expect to see at your art exhibition?
I’ve done a series of 50 paintings featuring musical instruments such as a cello, which I have created into people. I did this because I have written a series of musical plays including the Australian version of the ‘Peter and The Wolf’ featuring characters like ‘Peter and The Bunyip’ and ‘Peter and The Dingo’. I needed musical instruments to take over from the words, hence I painted the instruments which created the entire works for this exhibition.

Can you describe the story of one painting?
Yes the cello for example. It’s large and the head has a nose and female lips. The body of the cello forms a female and a male is plucking the strings. I have called this painting ‘The Dance’, it’s quite sinuous.

Australian musician Martin Pearson will be performing at the opening of your exhibition tonight, how will he tickle our funny bones?
Martin has a talent for making events laughable. He plays the guitar, a song writer, singer and comedian. He will engage the audience and enhance the musical theme of my paintings.

Prior to the fire, you were commissioned to paint the artwork in a 10 story building in Lygon Street, what was the theme?
I painted 17 colourful paintings for the commission with 10 paintings now showcased on the walls opposite the lifts doors, one for each floor that create a story working your way up from the earth to the sky. The basement floor features rabbits under the ground and the top floor is pigeons flying in the air. This collection led to my next commission by an art collector from Malaysia.

Who are you greatest artistic influences?
Australian painter William Dobell, Mornington Peninsula artist Terry Hadler and I love John Olson’s work. I not only appreciated their great art but they are good blokes too.

You are considered an Australian TV pioneer for cooking shows, what are your thoughts on programs such as Master Chef and My Kitchen Rules?
My shows on the ABC bored the socks off me. I didn’t watch my own so I don’t watch cooking shows. The odd glimpses I have seen of these shows seem to very good and far more exciting than mine, however embarrassing people on TV doesn’t appeal to me.

Do you think your scarves influenced Master Chef’s Matt Preston to don cravats?
No way! Matt’s cravats are nowhere as good as my scarves.

You have cooked for the likes of Prince Charles, if you could cook for anyone in the world who would it be and why?
I would love to cook for Nelson Mandela because I admire him. I would cook something bland because his mind is so complex. It would be a nice to serve something simple like a lamb chop.

What is your Porch Thought of The Day?
“I realised that the books I had written and the paintings I had ready for exhibition that I lost in the fire were all sub-standard. The first book I have rewritten is much better and I’ve painted better pictures for the exhibition. I am lucky in a way. Instead of working at crying, I’m singing and dancing.”

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