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DUNCAN REGEHR
THE DRAGON’S EYE
An Artist’s View
DUNCAN REGEHR
THE DRAGON’S EYE
An Artist’s View
For Catherine
First published in 1994 by
JOURNEY EDITIONS
364 Innovation Drive,
North Clarendon, VT 05759 U.S.A.
©1994 Duncan Regehr
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without prior written permission from
Journey Editions.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Regehr, Duncan,
The dragon’s eye : an artist view / Duncan regehr.
p. cm.
1.Regehr, Duncan--Catalogs. I. title.
ND237.R277A4 1994
| 759.13--dc20 | 94-20866CIP |
ISBN 1-885203-03-9
ISBN 978-1-4629-1802-7 (ebook)
Designed by Cynthia Patterson
Edited by Kathryn Leigh Scott
All rights for reproduction and the commercial copyright to any and all images created by the
artist, Duncan Regehr, that are represented within this book are retained by the artist.
First Edition
3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Printed in Hong Kong
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am greatly indebted to my dear friend, Jim McMullan for instigating the making of this book and to Peter Ackroyd for publishing it; to Cynthia Patterson who spent long hours with me designing this volume (and for her excellent midnight meals of Korean yams and vegetarian dumplings); to Kathryn Leigh Scott for her clarity; to Kevin and Joanna Connor for allowing me to stay in their lovely Los Angeles home while editing the final draft; to Baron and Baroness Devere-Austin of Delvin, Lord and Lady of Bradwell, for their counsel and insight; to my parents and family for their blessings; and to Roberta Scimone, Kathryn Sky-Peck, and the entire Journey Editions staff.
I give special thanks to the Los Angeles art agent, Donald Fonger, his wife Jan Dorian Whitney, and their crew at Museum Classics for retrieving so many of my works; and to “Q” Siebenthal, Simon Des Roches, and C. J. Campion for their photography.
My gratitude extends to all the collectors and contributors who sent slides and original work for image reproduction.
Miracle Minders OIL 24”x18” 1992
CONTENTS
The Poet OIL 24”x19” 1992
PREFACE
I am the sum of my art.
Therein lies my life .
THIS BOOK COULD BE described as an automonograph. Auto, in that it was written by the self, of the self. Monograph, since it focuses on a single category—the creation of art—as it relates to specific episodes of my life.
Apart from the first few pages which address early development and childhood, the chapters concentrate on the time between 1973 and 1993, and cover eight areas, or series, of my work.
The last twenty years of my paintings, prose, and verse reveal much more than this text or the small collection of plates enclosed with it; but the text does provide glimpses of experience and thought which may help to illuminate the growth of my work. The full range of influence is impossible to grasp, least of all by me.
Painting, acting, and writing monopolize my creative time, so it makes sense to speak of them as my life, rather than to refer to them as separate careers.
There are many artistic contributors who share in the development of an actor’s performance, i.e., the director, the cinematographer, the editor, and the other actors. Writing can be influenced by a literary editor. But painting is a solo art medium, whereby I am the producer, director, performer. In that sense it could be viewed as a pure form of creative expression. However, each of these mediums does not outweigh another in its importance. Together, they support and influence each other to create a single voice through my life.
Michelangelo is famous for his