Colmar David Photograph

Terry Archer                                                                    20.04.58 Wellington, New Zealand  ​ When you force yourself to revisit the past to find what's important to write down, your memory only focusses on the defining moments, those real events which changed everything, the rest becomes a blur of regular life. So there are sure to be serious gaps in this Bio, and to understand where I came from it may not be that relevant, but the important story is still told.  DM (Defining Moment) 1. Attended and graduated Design School in Wellington, New Zealand for 3 torturous, yet memorable years. DM 2. Set up a Mural painting enterprise with another colleague in the 80's. We painted a range of over 40 stunning murals on buildings all over the country. The background research we did gave me the most in-depth understanding of the worlds great painters, and a thorough grounding into art history. The timing of running this company, in hindsight, was probably a fortuitous thing, as when I finally travelled to Europe later in life and saw the masters, the churches, the heritage, I know I would have been so overwhelmed at that younger age, I may never have continued doing it.  DM 3. Set up an ornate frame mirror frame business. I learnt the skills by just doing it. In the end I learnt how to make complex silicon rubber cast molds and copied exactly the original frames from France or England. We poured fast curing Urethane into the molds and could de-mold in 15 minutes. But the real skill came in the effects done afterwards including aging gold leaf to look like the mirrors had been around for hundreds of years. I made a business of this.    I continue to paint, draw and recently explore my love of photography.  I have had a number of early exhibitions and have sold and gifted most of my work over the years, which now prompts me to do it slightly differently. I promote selling high quality prints of my paintings, drawings and photos online. ​