Willow branching out

Inspiration for Picton artist Willow comes not from within but from the universe, he tells Angela Crompton.

Life is short and people need to follow their dreams – but without encroaching on others.

That's a message Willow, aka Wayne Mullineaux, brings in a discussion about his life. At 65, he is still looking for new opportunities and prides himself on always going where his instincts suggest he should.

"If you want to take off and go to Monaco, just do it! You are not going to get another chance."

Not everyone finds that easy, Willow admits. "All my friends say I'm a gypsy and I have to keep that caravan moving."

Picton is the gypsy's latest stop and before that he was living in Christchurch where an art therapist exposed him to art as defined by Rudolf Steiner – that it should be a reflection of the human being's experience of the divine. Willow abandoned the oils, acrylics and charcoals he had used in his earlier "chocolate-box, photographic" artwork in favour of watercolour paints. Colours selected depend on how he feels at any one session.

"I believe inspiration doesn't come from inside you; it comes from the universe."

Willow has brought along a few examples to show how each day's influences bring different styles. Tulips on one picture had sown themselves, he says, overwhelming Willow's earlier intention to paint strawberries.

Gold strokes on another surround an image which, at first glance, shows a lion's head. Look closely, he urges, and it his self-portrait.

He describes time in his studio as like being in a room with many windows. Works that emerge on a particular day depend on which window he opens.

Born in Whangarei, Willow says he did most of his growing up when he travelled to Europe at 23. "From 23 to 30, that's when I really developed as a person. I became interested in opera and art." After 20 years working as a hair salon manager for the British army, Willow returned to New Zealand at his parents' request. Obligations ended when his mother died and he returned to London in the late 1980s to train at the Ivor Spencer International School of Butlers. Positions in private homes followed and and for four or five years he was the top-floor butler at the five-star Claridge's Hotel in London.

Clients typically paid 3000 a night and referred to Willow as "Mr Wayne", knowing he would look after their every need: unpacking luggage, pouring drinks, serving food, perhaps taking their dog for a walk.

Guests included Margaret Thatcher, Madonna and Michael Jackson but whatever their status or wealth people "all belonged to the same universal tribe", he says.

Suggest the man from Down Under would find the luxuries and royal treatment enjoyed by the super-rich offensive, however, and "Mr Wayne" retorts: "There's only two types of class: first class and no class.

"We could have a little more class in New Zealand. `No' class is much more destructive than class."

He despairs at "new-New Zealanders" who pooh-pooh traditional manners and etiquette.

"I know how to set a table, but that doesn't mean that's totally necessary. It's manners; good, old-fashioned manners and etiquette." Protocols have been important for people from all cultures since the beginning of time, he says. As the manager of a Whangarei arts and events centre, he was expected to follow Maori protocols as practised on a marae.

Days as a butler ended when he got arthritis in his knees. Living with luxury had been fun, but he enjoys having the simpler privileges everyday New Zealanders take for granted: going out without wearing a tie, walking on a beach in bare feet ... Willow now hopes to help others try Rudolf Steiner art styles. "You don't have to paint, you just `do'! People often try too hard; try to `achieve' something."

- The Marlborough Express