Darryl Trott Biography
The world has lost a wonderful person and it's greatest watercolour artist following Darryl's untimely death on the 9th June 2004 following a heart attack. Despite this tragic loss we are fortunate to have the legacy of his magnificent art with us forever.
Darryl Trott achieved a feel and flow with watercolour that no other medium comes close to. The Australian born artist was inspired from the very young age of six when he received his first set of watercolour paints for Christmas. From this early age he knew that his fingers and watercolour paint were a natural combination. But it was thirty years or more before his childhood love of flowers and art were brought to the surface by Ruth Tuck, a great Australian floral artist and teacher. "At first I was painting landscapes, but it wasn't long before Ruth Tuck told me to concentrate on flowers," says Trott.
Following Ruth Tucks advice, coupled with a 1977 sellout exhibition at Newton Gallery in Adelaide and an extended trip to the United States, introducing him to some of the finest galleries and publishers, Darryl emerged as one of the best floral artists in the world. Raised among the poppies his father grew in Adelaide, he believed flowers were always a natural subject for him. He continued to cultivate his own spectacular poppies, roses and hibiscus both in the garden and on paper. Beautiful, large petals flow dramatically and abundantly from Darryl's works of art, so enticing, they make you feel as though you can pick them directly off the surface of the paper.
People often comment, "Surely these are not watercolours, they're so colourful." But Darryl was renowned for his reply, "Colour and strength have nothing to do with watercolour. It is how you, as an artist interpret the medium. People tend to categorise watercolour as soft and anaemic, they emphasize the water and not the colour. Water is just a vehicle. When it dries, all you have got is the colour. Besides, watercolour is the perfect medium for flowers. Consider the delicate edges of my flowers; they could never be that paper like in oils," says Trott.
Darryl left a near twenty year advertising career to follow his passion and unmistakable talent to paint. As a result, he has painted from live blooms and gardens across five continents, including hibiscus in Tahiti, roses in England and magnolias in Louisiana. Not as confined as many artists are by language and location, Darryl Trott achieved international recognition adding freshness and style to his already worldwide subject thousands of beautiful flowers.
