Rick Roser

.......A little blue caravan, a 37 Oldsmobile, 3 adults, 5 kids and various pets.

There were a lot of mostly honest hard working people still living on the land then, in a semi wild state. 50's early 60's. We would work on farms, mostly as a family for a week or a season.

Us kids would have gone to 6 or more schools in a year, to the point where I would go to the Headmaster enrol us and tell him Mum and Dad were working at wherever. And that was OK in the 60's outback. Plenty of Indigenous and very working class farmworkers back then too,

We embraced our Aboriginality and loved travelling as "professional nomads". Could get up and go at the drop of a hat.

And I was one of those kids always interested and willing to learn and I'm so glad I did. 

Later, after a disastrous caravan fire we moved to Brisbane. In the city, and with such wild 5 kids as us, my parents did it tough and gradually they began to drift apart, my father became more involved and active in Aboriginal issues and my mother in active Feminism. 

Easily swept up in the politics of the time, Land Rights, Feminism, Anti Nuclear, Right to March etc. Communists, Anarchists... 

Late 60's 70's,80's ,

I walked with giants back then. Too many gone too soon and really persecuted to an early grave, if not killed outright.

I learned printing and began publishing leaflets and booklets and posters. 

It was very intense, and fantastic and exhilarating but youth and naiveté and downright stupidity saw my life and relationships crumble...a lot

In my late 30's I ended up making artefacts on the side of the road, painting them with ochre and selling them wherever I could. Bushie, Loner, Aboriginal Artist.

Everything had to be made from free materials from the bush and the life I lived didn't allow for a permanent workspace.  Mainly I would collect materials as I went and then set up in a Rest Area or camping places way out there. (in a '67 Landrover which  broke down everywhere I went...snap an axle..radiator...you name it.) 

There usually as I was fixing my car I would make artefacts like stone tools or burn out shields, coolamons, make didgeridoos, flatten bark for paintings and paint them with ochre...and plenty of times they were sold there too... to passing tourists, nearby butcher shops, service stations (always good) ...anywhere. 

I think I'd die out there now!! ;)

When I got a good collection together I would take / break down all the way to Sydney and sell to Aboriginal art shops and galleries.  So it was a lot of Boom and Bust. But I persisted.

I might see a shape in branches or logs in the campfire light, drag them out of the bush and manage to make them stand upright around the fire, little ones, big ones. 

Lucky for me they were pretty good...After a bit of work, a few of them ended up as sculpture in State, National Galleries and big collections. 

I was approached to present an Aboriginal culture workishop to a university in Canberra, and now many decades later I still spend a lot of time presenting Aboriginal culture at Schools, Colleges and Universities.

As a traditional fire maker, with 2 sticks and a handful of grass, I could make fire for tourists...

Later I opened major festivals as the fire maker and traveled ... 

From Hadrians wall to Troy, the Eternal city to the Forbidden city ...and...

many points in between.

 Still going...

21st Century so far…
2025.....

Still doing 150 to 200 School visits a year

Mentor, consultancy and advice to Artists 

2018

Major role in a Commonwealth Games Show "Sandsong" (Walbira Murray and Elena Vereker)

Toured Japan with "Sandsong"

Toured China with "Sandsong"

Installations for Bleach Festival...Really Cool

Still opening and closing the Woodford Folk Festival after 28 years!!!

Presenting workshops at WFF

Firemaking Peformances for BLEACH FESTIVAL Launch

BCC workshops

GCCC Workshops

Bris Wetlands Workshops

International ZOOM Performances

2014

Bundaberg Multicultural Festival
TourBurri Burri!! with QAC .
TARA Festival & CAmel Races
Woodford Folk Festival Closing/Fire Making Ceremony >>>>>2010
Grad. Certificate Art & Education
Diploma Vis. Arts TAFE
Cert 4 W/Place Assess & Training TAFE
QUT Faculty Health - Website Art
Release CD -Rom Aboriginal Resources Kit
Multimedia Artist/Producer
Nth W. Comm Health Centre Public Art Mentor/ lead Artist
B.C.C. Art Built in Musgrave Park Public Art Mentor/ lead Artist
B.C.C. Art Built in Keperra Public Art Mentor/ lead Artist
Com. Ombudsman Digital Art Designer
Red Cross Digital Art Designer
Toowoomba City Council Public Art Sandstone tinted concrete
Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival England Performance Fire making
Llandudnow Music Festival Wales Performance
Shanghai Oceanarium Painting
Mountains to Mangroves Festival Ed Workshops
Accreditation Qld Ed Dept Ed Workshops in Qld Schools
Multicultural Music Festival Firemaking Performance
City Farm/B.C.C. Public Art Sandstone fondue
Q.L.D. Maritime Museum Collection Bark (Canoe)
Centenary of Federation Festival Gold Coast Performance Fire & didgeridoo
Cent. of Federation Festival New Farm Park Performance Fire Making Ceremony
Release of 3 videos - The Aboriginal Art of String Making
The Aboriginal Art of Fire Making
The Aboriginal Art of Ochre Painting
Accreditation P 12…..to work in Qld. Schools
Griffith University Logan Campus (Public Art) Sculpture
Hillbrook College (Artist in residence/commission) Sculpture
Tribal 2000 Festival Lombardia Italy. Performance W/shops/ Fire Ceremony
Valley Fiesta 2000 Performance Fire & Ochre Painting
Gold Coast Indigenous Arts Festival Performance Fire & Didgeridoo
Woodford Folk Festival 2000>2004 Performance Closing/Fire Ceremony
Craigslea High (Artist in residence/commission) Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs
Teaching at TAFE
Lecturer at BOVACAIA, Qld College of Art

20th. Century

1999
Sth Bank Inst. Of TAFE (Lect.)
B.C.C. Biota St. Project (Urban Renewal/Public Art.) Sculpture
Yagubi Cultural Festival (Public Art) Painting
B.C.C. Gold Program. (per) W/shops
Waroo Shire Council (Surat Family History) (Public Art) Sculpture
B.C.C. Citizenship Ceremony (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
B.C.C. Christmas Tree Ceremony (Per) (Smoking Ceremony)
3rd. A.P.T.. Q.L.D. Art. Gallery (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Woodford Folk Festival (per) (Fire making Ceremony)
Shalom College Bundaberg (Artist in residence/commission) Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs

1998 :
Matilda Outback Centre Installation (Public Art) Painting
Aust. Heritage Comm. Art of Place (Touring ex) Painting
Nat. Indeginous Art Award (Tour.ex ) Painting
Out of the Box Festival (per) Workshops
Dar River Festival (per) Sculpture
Yugambeh Museum Gold Coast (Public Art) Painting
Yugambeh Museum Gold Coast (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Cyber Dreaming Ipswich (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Griffith Artworks Re/Form (Tour.ex) Painting
Chill-Out Festival (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Brisbane River Festival (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Griffith University Logan Campus (Public Art) Sculpture
Q.L.D. Art Gallery (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Bris. City Council (per) (Fire making)
Canberra Festival (per) (Fire making Per)
Maryborough Housing Co-Op (per) (Smoking ceremony)
Murri Independent School (Public Art) Sculpture
Chill-Out Festival (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Woodford Folk Festival (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
2nd A.P.T. Q.L.D. Art Gallery (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
B.C.C. Sorry Day (per) (Smoking Ceremony)
Woodford Folk Festival (Public art) Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs

1997
Shifting Sights Pinnacles Gallery T/ville (Public Art) Sculpture
Installation River Mill Gold Caost (acq) Painting
Ochres Fire Works Gallery Bris. (ex) Painting
Q.L.D. college of Art (Lecturer)
MAIWA Qld. P.A.C. Bris. (per) Workshops
QLD Tourist & Travel Commission (acq) Painting
Boondall Wetlands (Public Art) Painting
Woodford Folk Festival (Public art) Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs

1996 :
Totems Coo-ee Sydney (ex) Sculpture
Saltwater Freshwater Borewater (ex) Painting
Q.L.D Art Gallery. (collaboration with Campfire Group) (acq) Painting
Woodford Folk Festival (Commission/acq) Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs

1995 :
Queensland Art Gallery (acq) Sculpture
Woodford Folk Festival (Public art) Sculpture
Bobby Mcleod. Doonooch healing place. Nowra --Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs

1994 :
National Gallery of Australia (Flash Pictures Tour.ex.) Sculpture
Woodford Folk Festival (Public art) Sculpture
Touring Schools Programs

1993 :
Plenty of campfires Fire Works Gallery Bris. (ex) Painting
Warlgurgabah (Magnetic Is.) (ex) Artefacts
Woodford Folk Festival Official shirt design Painting
Maleny Folk Festival Maleny Educational Workshops
Touring Schools Programs

1992 :
Savode Gallery (ex) Sculpture
Rockhampton Dreamtime Centre (acq) Artefacts
Archie Roach & Ruby Hunter (acq) Painting
Maleny Folk Festival Maleny Educational Workshops
Touring Schools Programs

1991 :
Aust National Gallery Canberra (acq) Sculpture
Crosscurrents Coo-ee Gallery Sydney (ex) Sculpture
Ancestors Brisbane (ex) Sculpture
Maleny Folk Festival Maleny Educational Workshops
Touring Schools Programs

1990 :
Aboriginal Sculpture Review Sydney (ex) Sculpture
Bond Collection (acq) Sculpture
Q.L.D Art Gallery (ex) W/shops
Maleny Folk Festival Maleny Educational Workshops
Touring Schools Programs

1989:
Kamarga Aboriginal Arts Brisbane (ex) Sculpture/Bark painting
Uni. Of Q.L.D. Anthropology Museum (per/acq) W/shops/Stone tools
Maleny Folk Festival Maleny Educational Workshops

3 months School W/shop program for Schools Education W/shops

1988:
Kalkadoon Tribal Centre Mt. Isa. (acq) Stone Tools
Tranby College Sydney (per/acq) W/shops/artefacts
Pacific Arts Festival Townsville (per) W/shops
Q.L.D. Museum (per) Sculpture w/shops
3 months School W/shop program for S/ East Queensland Schools Education W/shops

1987: Rockhampton Dreamtime Cultural Centre Public Art Ochre Stencil Art