Robert Graeme Galbraith
| Robert Graeme Galbraith | |
|---|---|
 Oil painting: 'Self-Portrait by Candlelight' by Robert Graeme Galbraith | |
| Born |
4 February 1943 Barton-on-Sea, United Kingdom |
| Died |
16 February 2007 (aged 64) Watford, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Teacher, artist and published poet |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trent Park College & University of Westminster |
| Spouse |
Champa Jayasinghe (1972–1987) Mariett Thompson (1996–2007) |
| Children |
Neil Kanishka Galbraith (b. 1973) Paul Asoka Galbraith (b. 1975) |
Robert Graeme Galbraith was a teacher, artist, and a published poet. He was born at Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, on 4 February 1943. He died in February 2007 at the age of 64.
He was a member of the Watford and Bushey Art Society, the Society of Ruislip Artists and for many years was also a member of the Old Water Colour Society's Club which he joined in 1971.
He was also a long-standing member of the Anglo-Norse Society and the Berkhamsted Jazz Society.
Early life
Robert was the second of three children born to Richard and Olive Galbraith, the older sister being named Anne and the younger brother Alisdair.
He grew up in Southampton and was an active Boy Scout, eventually receiving the Queen's Scout Award. It was also as a scout that he first visited Norway where he made several lifelong friends and penpals. It also motivated and helped him to gain a basic knowledge of the Norwegian language which he later used in writing poetry.
His other great interests included cycling, where he was a member of a road-racing club, and Jazz music of which he remained a dedicated and lifelong fan.
Education
Robert Galbraith studied at Trent Park College and at Hornsey College of Art and Harrow College of Art which is now part of the University of Westminster.
He gained a CertTEFLA (1989), a BA (Hons) degree from the University of Westminster, which included English Studies (1996) and an MA in Education from the University of Hertfordshire in 2001 which was noted in the Watford Observer.[1] He has also studied English Literature at MA level.
Teaching career
Robert Galbraith taught art at Hatch End High School, Harrow from 1964 to 2004, where he was master in charge of pottery. For many years he was also a tutor in art with the Department of Adult Studies at the Harrow College of Further Education. He also guest lectured at many local art societies and was a regular art judge for the Harrow Show (1978, 1980, 1982–84).
He retired in 2004 and was honoured by the Mayor of Harrow at his retirement event. Also attending were students from his first and last classes – spanning the full forty years of his career.
Art
He was a prolific artist, particularly in oils and watercolours, and he exhibited regularly at local galleries and public buildings like The Pump House Theatre & Art Centre in Watford, Watford Central Library Gallery, Watford Museum and The Great Barn and the Cow Byre Art Gallery in Ruislip. He specialised in landscapes and still lifes but also frequently painted portraits and subjects from life. He was regularly featured in the local press.[2] Paintings by him are in various private collections in this country and abroad.
His work was accepted by the Royal Academy for its Summer Exhibition in 1982. In 1985 and 1987 he was a prize winner in the Watford & District Local Artists' Exhibition. He has also exhibited at the Hertfordshire Open Exhibition. In addition, some of his work has also been published by national magazines.[3]
Poetry
Since early childhood his parents encouraged him to be interested in art, music and literature, and his father would often read to the family from the work of such writers as A. A. Milne, Kenneth Grahame, Jerome K. Jerome, Charles Dickens and Shakespeare, as well as poetry from Palgrave's Golden Treasury.
While at Itchen Grammar School, Southampton, Robert wrote a short item for the sixth form magazine, and since then a number of his articles have been published. While at Trent Park (1961–1964) he studied English, and started to write poetry, having some of his work included in a college anthology.
In 1981 he heard John Heath-Stubbs (1918–2006) reading a selection of that poet's work at a venue in North London, and in 1999 Robert organised a successful poetry competition for the students at his school, based on the death of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
His poems make use of brevity to focus on 'poetic thoughts' and as well as 'the music of the words', in which he strongly believes, Robert's work is based on probing thoughts and sharp observations.
He had a number of poems published in poetry anthologies and also in various periodcials including that of the Anglo-Norse society where he had both English and Norwegian language poems published in their newsletter.
In 2005 he decided to self-publish a collection of his poems. The book, entitled 'Soul Journey'[4] is to be published by Janus Publishing Limited and will be available in 2012.
Personal life
Robert was married twice and had two children from his first marriage.
Robert travelled widely, and when he retired in 2004, after forty years of teaching Art and Design in the London Borough of Harrow, he spent the first 323 days of his retirement in Ghana, West Africa. He lived with the people and as well as exploring the country he did some voluntary work for the art gallery at the National Museum of Ghana in Accra, and some part-time teaching at one of the state primary schools.
References
- ↑ Master's Master http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/watfordfc/stadiums/archive/2001/09/04/Hertfordshire+Archive/5767006.Master_s_master/
- ↑ 'The Making of An Artist' in Focus Magazine, Vol.1, No.29, 9 April 1988, published by London & Suburban Classified Newspapers Limited.
- ↑ Paul Raymond Publications Limited – Escort Magazine, Volume 2, Number 2; Volume 3, Number 11; Volume 4, Number 7; Volume 5, Numbers 5 & 10; Volume 6, Number 1.
- ↑ 'Soul Journey – Selected Poems 1961–2005' by Robert G. Galbraith. Janus Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-85756-627-7