Graeme Stevenson invites viewers to Put Some Colour In Your Life

Graeme Stevenson filming an episode of “Colour In Your Life” with Lyn Diefenbach (Image courtesy of Graeme Stevenson)

Imagine a library full of artist videos that teaches you their techniques, shows the artist’s personality and why they do what they do.

Thanks to Graeme Stevenson, there is no need to merely imagine such a library – it is at your fingertips.

Along with being a master artist, Stevenson is the host of “Colour In Your Life,” a TV show that profiles artists from around the world through a fun blend of creativity, knowledge and Harley-Davidsons.

Image courtesy of Graeme Stevenson

The origin of the show began around 2010 when the world was reacting to the global financial crisis. Stevenson noticed a number of galleries were closing their doors, which meant fewer people were exposed to art. Having worked in television on Barry Chappell’s Fine Arts Showcase program in the U.S., he believed it was time to take art to the digital realm.

“The part of growing our species and our social awareness as a species is gathering and maintaining this information so that we have a database or a library of these minds for future generations,” he says. “We make these shows so that the world can see the minds of these artists.”

Armed with a mission, Stevenson, at the age of 51, enrolled at North Cape TAFE in New South Wales to study film, and by the end of his course he put together six episodes. Initially the show received rejection after rejection, but Stevenson spiced it up by filming himself riding his Harley-Davidson to the artists he profiled.

“It allows the man on the street to become a part of the knowledge,” he says. “I wasn’t trying to be academic or elitist.”

Graeme Stevenson on his Harley-Davidson (Image courtesy of Graeme Stevenson)

Since then, the show has been picked up by multiple channels, and as of the writing of this article, Stevenson has now produced 13 seasons (in excess of 200 half-hour episodes) of “Colour In Your Life.” He has received feedback from viewers in the United States, the Philippines, Canada, Europe, Scotland, India – 64 countries all together. On YouTube alone, the show has received over seven million views.

Among the dozens of artists he has interviewed are his fellow Australian artists with Park West, Donna Sharam and Barry McCann. There are even episodes of Stevenson teaching his techniques.

“We have artists from all across the world now wanting to be involved in this, and we are setting up film crews in these countries to allow their Artists to be filmed, literally from countries across the planet, because it’s a completely different idea,” Stevenson says.

Image courtesy of colourinyourlife.com.au

One of the more unique experiences to have come from the show was in 2012 when Stevenson and his team were contacted by the Junee Correctional Centre in New South Wales, Australia. He learned that his show was having an impact on the inmates and their rehabilitation, which gave Stevenson the idea to film an episode at the facility. He and several artists conducted and filmed a workshop with the inmates.

“It was a real thrill to see that the Colour In Your Life series had begun to make a such difference in the lives of many of the guys in the jail,” Stevenson said during the show. “We are really grateful that the show has been able to make a difference to all the lives of the people that watch our amazing artists every week.”

The show not only influences those who watch it, but those who produce it as well. Stevenson says he has acquired immense amounts of knowledge and techniques that he now uses in his own artwork, which is available to collect through Park West Gallery.

“The techniques that I’ve developed now have come from a myriad of other people that have influenced me, or that I have learned something from in the process of filming for the series as well,” he says. “I went from extreme photorealism…to getting to the stage where I wanted to be more free and expressive in my style.”

Don’t miss Park West’s own collection of Graeme Stevenson artwork as well as our YouTube channel, which features videos with dozens of our artists, including Stevenson!