Wayne Mullineaux with his winning Fakes and Forgeries entry. Photo / Supplied
Wayne Mullineaux with his winning Fakes and Forgeries entry. Photo / Supplied
Painter Wayne Mullineaux has been in Whanganui for the past two years, but his first foray into the local art scene only happened last weekend.
It proved to be a success.
Mullineaux, who goes by the artist name 'Willow', won the annual Fakes and Forgeries competition at Mangaweka's Yellow ChurchGallery, with a take on one of Vincent van Gogh's famous sunflower paintings.
While it was also his first forgery, Mullineaux has been creating and exhibiting for many years.
"I'm definitely not a chocolate box painter," he said.
Born in Auckland in 1944, Mullineaux moved to the UK at the age of 22.
After a year in London, he headed to Berlin, Germany.
"I always had an interest in all aspects of the visual arts, and when I got to Berlin I attended an art class at the Volkshochschule [community college].
"It wasn't my profession of course, but I carried on with art on the side."
Initially, that profession was hairdressing, and Mullineaux ended up running the British Armed Forces' hairdressing service for the whole of Germany.
"At a later stage I changed things completely and went to the very famous Ivor Spencer butler school in London.
"That then became my profession. I was the head butler at Claridge's [Hotel] and the Four Seasons in Berlin, and I looked after people like Madonna and Margaret Thatcher."
Mullineaux's work is always bursting with colour. Photo / Supplied
He was also stationed in Munich for a period, working for the Sixt family, famous for founding the Sixt car hire company.
"They would have people like Andrea Boccelli over for dinner, it was just amazing."
Regardless of what was going on in his day job, Mullineaux's love of art remained undiminished.
"Being a butler is being an actor, and you're watching everything you say, move, and do.
"Painting allowed me to just let go. You become Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, basically."
Mullineaux said his work was always colourful, and he tried to stay away from painting "dark, depressing stuff".
Using art as a therapy was also something he believed in, a technique he picked up whilst attending an art class at the Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School upon his return to New Zealand.
"I like to paint colour and nice things, not dark, depressing stuff," Mullineaux said.
"It's not so abstract that the viewer can't tell what it is, but there are a lot of layers in my works.
"People can get lost in it and have their own experience."
While Whanganui was a "really lovely place", Mullineaux said he may be on the move again before too long.
At present, he said he was painting in a small caravan parked in his driveway.
He did plan on exhibiting some of his work in town before he left, however.
"I guess I'm a gypsy at heart.
"A very good friend of mine once said 'Wayne's got pepper in his arse'.
"Life is short, and you want to experience it. I think to do that, you can't stay put for years in one little place."
