Cork-based artist Tom Campbell on the financial insecurity of the creative life
Born in Scotland, Tom Campbell has been living in Ireland for many years.
Tom Campbell will be a familiar sight to many people in Cork, pedalling around the city centre on a unicycle, often while playing a ukulele and blowing on a harmonica. As a street performer and busker, he can often be seen clowning and juggling, or drawing pictures on the street.
Campbell’s activities as a visual artist have kept him particularly busy of late. He has just finished a solo exhibition of his paintings and sculptures at the Another Place Gallery at the Quay Co-op Bookshop, and he opens another at the Apple Market, at 13A Barrack St — behind the O’Sho Bar — on Friday.
The Apple Market is hundreds of years old, and was originally used as a warehouse for apples produced in orchards all over Munster. “Simone Kelly, who owns the Apple Market, suggested I do an exhibition there,” says Campbell. “I loved the space, but I thought it would look a lot better if the original stone walls were limewashed. I gave them two coats of limewash, and more in places. It took a lot longer than I expected, maybe a month in total, but it was worth doing, I think.
“I've been working in there a little bit, doing some art, but only in the past two weeks. I'm doing a couple of big paintings, and I’m asking myself why I didn't use the space before. I don't normally do big paintings because my space is too small. So I hope I can use it as a studio space in the future.” Campbell has been a member of Outlaw Studios on the Marina for the past 10 years.
“It's a good studio,” he says. “But if I'm being totally honest, I'd love a bigger space, a workshop, somewhere I could use power tools, and make more sculptures.”
At the Apple Market, he plans on showing at least 40 drawings and paintings, and 15 sculptures. Most of the work on the walls will be portraits or figurative work, while the sculptures will mostly be papier-mâché dogs and other animals.
Over the past few years, Campbell has begun experimenting in bronze. “It’s a really powerful material,” he says. “The mirror finish is something I really, really love. I sold three pieces last year, and I still have two left; a dog and a fish. It was quite emotional making them. I just remember thinking how my dad never used to go 'oh, I'm really proud of you'. But he would have been proud of me for doing this. I think he would have said 'well done'."
Campbell grew up in Dumfries, in southwest Scotland. “The poet Robert Burns lived and died in Dumfries,” he says. “I grew up in the countryside just outside it, and for pretty much all my life, I've wanted to go back to living in the countryside. My parents moved over to Ireland when I was 21 or 22, and settled near Kilkenny. They’re both gone now.
Campbell is largely self-taught. “I've been to art college, but I never finished it,” he says. “I did quite a lot, but I didn't get very far, is how I’d put it. I studied mainly in Scotland and England. I did a pre-foundation course to get into art college, and then I did a foundation course. Then I did two years of sculpture at the Crawford in Cork, and I left.
“Later on, I did a craft course in Thomastown in Kilkenny, but I left about halfway through. I was trying to work on other projects, and I couldn't really get them done because I was supposed to be at college. I left the Crawford for similar reasons, and because it was slightly getting on my nerves. They don’t teach you very much at college.”
Busking has always provided Campbell with some kind of income. “People here are very generous,” he says. “But it's changing. People don't carry cash anymore, which is not good for certain things, and busking is definitely one of them.”
He also runs papier-mâché workshops, and makes papier-mâché sculptures to commission. The most prominent in Cork is the hippopotamus head behind the counter at the Rising Sons on the Coal Quay. “I’ve just finished a giant fish, a turbot, and sent it off to France,” he says.
He recently designed the cover for his friend Cathal Carroll’s children’s book, . “Cathal’s living in Italy now. He teaches English through clowning. His book is for teachers, or anyone who's interested in learning through creativity, I suppose.”
Campbell hopes also to start producing books himself. “One thing I want to do is get back to writing my autobiography. Like a lot of my projects, I started it and put it down. I got quite a lot of words done, but I haven't looked at it for two or three years. I'd like to do a book of musical animals, and a few other projects like that as well. Books are something I really hope to focus on in the future.”
Campbell has never really considered any other occupation but artmaking and performance. “In some ways, I wish I had a degree,” he says. “I wish I was teaching or something, and had more security. But I'm also happy that I have the freedom to make my work. I've put myself in some fairly precarious living situations, but in some ways that’s been a necessity, because that's how I can afford to make art. If I had a more secure living situation, I might not be able to do art full-time.
“I like the line from the Lou Reed song, ‘you need a busload of faith to get by.’ That feels appropriate. My thinking is, I've always found a way to support myself doing what I like. I think it's the same for all creative people; you have to find ways of making it work.”
- Tom Campbell’s art exhibition opens at the Apple Market at 13A Barrack St at 6pm Friday, November 22 and runs until November 24, and again from Wednesday 27 to Sunday 30 (1 – 7pm). Further information: tomcampbellart.com
