OBITUARY: Robert Edden

Born: October 14, 1927

Died: July 6, 2012

Funeral: St Augustines Church, Merewether, July 11, 2012

WHEN Robert Edden was presented with a Kodak box brownie camera at the age of 10, he had no idea that one day photography would play an important role in his professional life as an artist.

His camera was to become his sketchbook in the field. Today there are more than 2000 artworks throughout the Hunter, interstate and overseas, created during his prolific, professional artistic life.

Born in Adamstown on October 14, 1927, Robert moved to Bellbird, near Cessnock, as a boy in 1934. He learnt the value of hard work at his parents’ general store across from the Bellbird Public School.

The family lived in Edden Street, named after his grandfather, the Honourable Alfred Edden MLA, who was Minister for Mines from 1910 until 1913.

As a boy, Robert studied wildlife, camping out in the old pioneer slab huts that later inspired much of his artwork. He attended Bellbird Public School, then Cessnock High, leaving in second year at 14 to work in the family store. At 16, he began two years at Pelton Colliery as a clipper and a sidler. By 18, Robert was his own boss, working as a self-taught sign writer.

When he was 21, Robert married May Morisson at the Cessnock Presbyterian Church. In 1959, the couple left their Cessnock home with their young sons Wayne and Paul and moved to Hamilton. In 1967, they built their house in Merewether, where they lived for more than 45 years.

‘‘I’ve been self-employed all my life and never worked for a boss,’’ Robert told Hunter Lifestyle Magazine earlier this year.

‘‘I started off earning a living as a sign writer, ran a fruit run in Cessnock and opened my first car yard business opposite the swimming pool on Wollombi Road in Cessnock in 1952.’’ Robert eventually set up business in Beaumont Street, next door to furniture salesman Fred Barrie, an amateur photographer whom he credited with sparking his real interest in photographing native birds. As a member of the Northern Photographic Society Robert won many prizes, and was particularly proud of winning the Kodak Slide of the Year in 1969.

His wife May encouraged him to paint, especially after the first of four heart attacks at the age of 39. She suggested he join Hamilton Evening College to learn the tools of the trade. Robert started to paint seriously in 1971, around the same time acrylic paints were first introduced, and exhibited in local art exhibitions. He worked long hours at the car yard, yet painted 40 works per exhibit. The Newcastle Herald even ran a story about the unlikely blend that was Robert Edden; car salesman by day, creative artist by night.

At 48, Robert decided to get out of the used-car business after 25 years and try his luck as a full-time, professional artist.

A meeting with renowned bird painter and author William Cooper inspired him to create two notable publications of his own painted works.

In 1979, Robert and May set off on a four-month study tour of Europe and Britain. Two months after their return, Robert staged his sixth one-man show. Reviews and sales were beyond expectation. Some 72 paintings were sold and 40 commissions booked.

But it was his reputation as an Australian bird artist that gained him international recognition.

The Australian Museum Ornithology Department asked him to submit two works on Australian birdlife.

The department was so impressed that three paintings of Newcastle birds, the Yellow Robin, Rufous Fantail and Variegated Wren, were printed in a run of 4000 copies.

In 1990, Robert exhibited a collection of landscapes and wildlife at the Cessnock Regional Library.

He donated three works to Cessnock Regional Library and did paintings of heritage buildings for the Merewether Historical Society.

His commissions included wine labels for Saxonvale Wines and Reg Drayton, Cessnock Rotary Club and a logo for Allandale Nursing Home.

He was inducted into the City of Cessnock Hall of Fame, in recognition of his significant achievement in the arts, in November, 2008.

Robert Edden was definitely one of a kind.