Artist and ex banker Matt Stone with Loan Shark, his response to the exposes of the banking industry by the Royal Commission
By Liane Arno
IT WAS only a few years ago and Matt Stone was already in his mid-60s that he completed his MBA. After years of mentoring senior executives in one of the top four banks and encouraging them to gain their qualifications, did Matt gained the courage to commence his own. School was no friend to him, as he says himself, “only a good place to play sport”.
IT WAS only a few years ago and Matt Stone was already in his mid-60s that he completed his MBA. After years of mentoring senior executives in one of the top four banks and encouraging them to gain their qualifications, did Matt gained the courage to commence his own. School was no friend to him, as he says himself, “only a good place to play sport”.
I was in the Wonthaggi Town Hall yesterday as the men were setting up row after row of school desks, all equidistant from each other, all equally threatening, ready for end of year exams – with a shiver down my spine, I could appreciate Matt’s loathing of school.
But with a disciplinarian of a father, it was not an option to try anything other than what a traditional boy of the middle of last century would do. So when Matt left school it was to become a banker, working his way up the ranks and finally leaving only when the bank offered him a choice to remain or leave and take home a tidy sum.
It was in this tiny window of opportunity that Matt and I met. He was having his farewell party and I was a new chum in the bank remarking on his card that was doing the rounds of the office that I was sorry not to have had the opportunity of working with him as he had such a great reputation in the bank.
There is a lot I could tell you about the intervening times, but suffice it to say we ended up in Wonthaggi and both started working occasionally for Chisholm. After I had finished teaching New Enterprise Initiative Scheme (NEIS) students, Matt would mentor them. Often, in order to support their new businesses, we would have the students come and work for us – putting up a fence or doing some repair and maintenance work at the pub we owned in Archies Creek. Matt mentored the incredibly talented Karin Murphy Ellis and through her met and started taking art classes with her partner Ken Griffiths.
It is only then that Matt discovered that he really enjoyed art. Ken showed him that a canvas didn’t need to be flat but could be enhanced and embellished with medium that brought depth and interest to a painting. Not one to start small, Matt embarked on his first painting – a massive two by three metres representing a climate changed environmental chaos – a hurricane swirling over the ruins of a hotel destroyed in an earthquake. Ken could be a harsh task master and at one point told Matt, “Will you stop mucking about with the impasto medium – it is now time to put paint to canvas.” As Matt washed the paint over the now textured canvas the class drew in their breaths as the painting came to life.
Matt loved the colours of the paint, even of the limited palette that Ken recommended. He would find himself wanting to daub the paint, sometimes dispensing with the need of a brush and straight from the tube itself. Ken would have been appalled as Matt would sometimes use a brush for one colour and, after cleaning it hurriedly on a cloth, use it for another colour. One morning I woke up and found Matt had obviously not found a cloth and had used his shirt instead, which had leeched the paint through to his body. He (and the sheets) were covered in splotches of colour. We should have framed him.
Volunteering overseas for Australian Business Volunteers interrupted his new-found love of art. It wasn’t until last year that he was pruning the grape vines and thought he couldn’t bear to waste the withered vines – they held such potential. He had never been interested in basketry before but started weaving the long tendrils into shape. He created an oblong – which morphed into a creature with the talons and wings of an eagle and the head, dorsal fin and tail of a shark – complete with a set of razor-sharp shark jaw complete with teeth. As the banks were in the midst of the Banking Royal Commission held in the talons were tiny houses emblazoned with the big four’s emblems representing the homes lost through the financial advisers’ paucity of ethics. It (Loan Shark) not only won an honourable mention in last year’s Extra Dimensional Exhibition at ArtSpace – but artist Phil Henshall, always one with a social conscience, bought it. Matt declares, “I would have given it to him!”
In order to support the ArtSpace workshops, Matt started attending oil painting classes with Ross Vaughan. He clearly had a gift but it took a while for Ross to appreciate Matt’s desire for something different. Matt entered three pieces into this year’s Archies Bald Portrait Prize. The judge, Dr Tony Hanning, awarded Matt third prize in the 2D section saying that he found powerful expressionism in Matt’s Sadly Defiant.
Matt said of his painting, “It's about defying the ugly reactions some women get from being bald … for whatever reason. Personal knowledge of such occasions inspired me to depict this defiance.”
And then, if not enough, his entry Embrace Diversity, using discarded building materials, won the people’s choice award in the 3D section.
ArtSpace is fortunate that Matt is showing this piece as part of our Extra Dimensional exhibition, which runs until December 2. The official opening is this Sunday, from 12.30-2.30pm.
But with a disciplinarian of a father, it was not an option to try anything other than what a traditional boy of the middle of last century would do. So when Matt left school it was to become a banker, working his way up the ranks and finally leaving only when the bank offered him a choice to remain or leave and take home a tidy sum.
It was in this tiny window of opportunity that Matt and I met. He was having his farewell party and I was a new chum in the bank remarking on his card that was doing the rounds of the office that I was sorry not to have had the opportunity of working with him as he had such a great reputation in the bank.
There is a lot I could tell you about the intervening times, but suffice it to say we ended up in Wonthaggi and both started working occasionally for Chisholm. After I had finished teaching New Enterprise Initiative Scheme (NEIS) students, Matt would mentor them. Often, in order to support their new businesses, we would have the students come and work for us – putting up a fence or doing some repair and maintenance work at the pub we owned in Archies Creek. Matt mentored the incredibly talented Karin Murphy Ellis and through her met and started taking art classes with her partner Ken Griffiths.
It is only then that Matt discovered that he really enjoyed art. Ken showed him that a canvas didn’t need to be flat but could be enhanced and embellished with medium that brought depth and interest to a painting. Not one to start small, Matt embarked on his first painting – a massive two by three metres representing a climate changed environmental chaos – a hurricane swirling over the ruins of a hotel destroyed in an earthquake. Ken could be a harsh task master and at one point told Matt, “Will you stop mucking about with the impasto medium – it is now time to put paint to canvas.” As Matt washed the paint over the now textured canvas the class drew in their breaths as the painting came to life.
Matt loved the colours of the paint, even of the limited palette that Ken recommended. He would find himself wanting to daub the paint, sometimes dispensing with the need of a brush and straight from the tube itself. Ken would have been appalled as Matt would sometimes use a brush for one colour and, after cleaning it hurriedly on a cloth, use it for another colour. One morning I woke up and found Matt had obviously not found a cloth and had used his shirt instead, which had leeched the paint through to his body. He (and the sheets) were covered in splotches of colour. We should have framed him.
Volunteering overseas for Australian Business Volunteers interrupted his new-found love of art. It wasn’t until last year that he was pruning the grape vines and thought he couldn’t bear to waste the withered vines – they held such potential. He had never been interested in basketry before but started weaving the long tendrils into shape. He created an oblong – which morphed into a creature with the talons and wings of an eagle and the head, dorsal fin and tail of a shark – complete with a set of razor-sharp shark jaw complete with teeth. As the banks were in the midst of the Banking Royal Commission held in the talons were tiny houses emblazoned with the big four’s emblems representing the homes lost through the financial advisers’ paucity of ethics. It (Loan Shark) not only won an honourable mention in last year’s Extra Dimensional Exhibition at ArtSpace – but artist Phil Henshall, always one with a social conscience, bought it. Matt declares, “I would have given it to him!”
In order to support the ArtSpace workshops, Matt started attending oil painting classes with Ross Vaughan. He clearly had a gift but it took a while for Ross to appreciate Matt’s desire for something different. Matt entered three pieces into this year’s Archies Bald Portrait Prize. The judge, Dr Tony Hanning, awarded Matt third prize in the 2D section saying that he found powerful expressionism in Matt’s Sadly Defiant.
Matt said of his painting, “It's about defying the ugly reactions some women get from being bald … for whatever reason. Personal knowledge of such occasions inspired me to depict this defiance.”
And then, if not enough, his entry Embrace Diversity, using discarded building materials, won the people’s choice award in the 3D section.
ArtSpace is fortunate that Matt is showing this piece as part of our Extra Dimensional exhibition, which runs until December 2. The official opening is this Sunday, from 12.30-2.30pm.