Trevor Smith didn't exactly grow up in the world of fine art.
As a boy living on his family's grazing farm in Joanna, South Australia, he was a long way from the flash galleries his work appears in today.
"There wasn't a huge art presence," Mr Smith said.
Unlike his brother and sister who kept busy outdoors with sports and animals, Trevor preferred to be inside with his mother.
"She was a very creative person, sewing, knitting, crocheting, that sort of thing," Mr Smith said.
Like his mother, Trevor Smith's early work was often practical.
"I remember making a lot of crocheted Barbie clothes for some of my younger cousins," Mr Smith said.
Then there were the coin purses he made for his family's Friday card nights and the corduroy safari suit he patched together and wore for his grandmother's 70th birthday.
Encouraged by two art teachers at school, he enrolled in arts school in Victoria where his 40-year art "evolution" really began.
The three acts of Trevor Smith's career
Mr Smith lapped up everything the art course at the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education [now Deakin University] in Warrnambool, south-west Victoria, could offer. Crucially, the bigger city exposed him to new ideas and likeminded people.
His exposure to a variety of artforms confirmed his dislike of wood and metal and his love of patchwork and sewing machines.
But jobs didn't materialise after graduation, so he returned home to the farm and set about honing his first artistic phase — soft sculpture.
When Mr Smith relocated to Ararat in 1985 for a curating job, his artwork underwent its own alterations.
It was in Ararat where the second phase of his three-act career began.
Soft sculptures were out, embellished patchwork was in.
It was not until the move to Portland, Victoria, in 2007 that crochet returned to Mr Smith's life in a big way.
Finding love and success with crochet
The same themes have always flowed through all of Mr Smith's work.
"I like to focus on images that I can work a lot of detail into so it's not just the clothes they're wearing, it's the accessories they have and the look that they have.
"That helps make it obvious as to what they are, [they're] not just another lady in a dress."
Since 2016, Mr Smith's creations have been exhibited in Michael Reid galleries in Sydney, Melbourne and Berlin, leading to overseas commissions.
"It's sort of gone beyond my loungeroom now," he said.
"I've never really considered myself a serious artist, even though I've exhibited constantly for 35 years.
"I do take myself a bit more seriously now."
Mr Smith can spend 14 to 16 hours a day crocheting if he's "into it".
"I can be a bit obsessive," he said.
One of the hazards of Mr Smith's dedication to crocheting has been the wear and tear on his hands. He required carpal tunnel surgery in the late '90s after a period of excessive patchwork sewing.
And although the carpal tunnel pain is gone, he has had to cope with some other uncomfortable side effects, including very dry hands.
"I should put more cream on them," he said.
"I do develop a hole in one of my fingers where the needle goes [because] I can't work with a thimble."
Over the years, Mr Smith has created many crocheted items, but has kept only one of them.
"I enjoy making it, I enjoy people seeing it but then it's over for me. I don't need to have it for the rest of my life."
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No looking back
After retiring from his job as the cultural collections officer for the Glenelg Shire Council in Portland last year, Mr Smith moved to Penola, his mother's hometown, in January.
"Whilst I haven't necessarily come home as such, it feels like home," he said.
"It's familiar; it's a place I've known all my life."
More time at home has meant more time for crocheting, especially during the pandemic.
"The perfect environment for me is on the couch in front of the television.
"I can pretty much watch any rubbish that's on television but I also have a lot of DVDs of Australian movies and Australian serials from the 1970s — my favourites."
Mr Smith is adamant this third phase of his art evolution will be the last.
"I don't see a change happening with this move [to Penola]," Mr Smith said. "I think crochet will be the focus.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiUGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA4LTI5L3RyZXZvci1zbWl0aC1pcy10aGUtY3JvY2hldC1raW5nLzEyNTk4NTcy0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNTk4NTcy?oc=5
2020-08-28 22:51:00Z
CBMiUGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA4LTI5L3RyZXZvci1zbWl0aC1pcy10aGUtY3JvY2hldC1raW5nLzEyNTk4NTcy0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNTk4NTcy
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