Balancing firefighting with reflection

 

Keith Ross, a firefighter at Monbulk Fire Brigade, has been painting for about 25 years, though he has become more serious about it lately.

 

“Many of my paintings focus on the work of CFA firefighters,” Keith said. “My 20-plus years of painting roughly correlates to my service with CFA.

“I get enormous satisfaction with being part of an organisation that quietly goes about protecting the community. Sometimes documenting the ordinary reveals the extraordinary. and through my art I like to show how firefighters just get on with the job. Some of my art rejoices in the small victories we take for granted.

“As an artist, l am very much trying my best to give back to my community after all of the years it has consistently and quietly nurtured me.

“I’ve had a higher output recently and I’m semi-professional,” Keith said. “I’ve sold works to family and friends and through word of mouth. I’m also selling some at my exhibition. The sales are covering costs.”

The exhibition, called The Ordinary Sublime, opened at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (ANVAM) in Melbourne in October 2024. ANVAM is a non-profit organisation that provides services for the veteran community to enhance wellbeing. It also works with other organisations to support their members through arts engagement. 

“As well as a CFA volunteer, I’m also an Army reservist. While I was attending an Army creative arts social group I crossed paths with ANVAM. They asked me to hold an exhibition there after they saw my defence force art. It was ANVAM’s first painting exhibition.

“I got a huge buzz at the exhibition when people wanted to talk to me about my art,” Keith said

Keith didn’t formally train as an artist but he can see the important benefits of painting.

“For me, painting is a hobby and a destresser. Some people jog or do yoga. I lose myself by being creative. It helps to keep stress in check. I’ve done some mindfulness training and while I’m painting I feel I’m in that zone – in the present moment.

“I paint some emergency services scenes, but I also like to paint the ordinary, mundane things and celebrate those – birds in a backyard, for example. These are things people often take for granted but maybe shouldn’t.

“I want people to look at my art and reflect on it.”

Keith appreciates that interacting with other artists has a positive influence on him.

“Talking with other artists at ANVAM sparks ideas in me that I wouldn’t otherwise have. It helps being immersed in a creative environment.”

Following his exhibition, ANVAM has invited Keith to submit a painting for its Festival of Veterans Arts which takes place in March.

“At 1.5 metres by 1.5 metres, this will be the largest piece I’ve attempted,” Keith said.

“I’ve chosen Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Rd as the heart of the piece. I have strong connections to this area, including Melbourne Grammar School which I attended.”

The painting must be finished by March and Keith hasn’t started it yet. But he’s not concerned.

“Generally, I work pretty fast because I’m impatient.”

 

 

 

Submitted by	News and Media