Phil Armstrong art

My Uncle Phil Armstrong (1908-2003) took up oil painting as a serious hobby while "a mere boy" in his sixties. He'd handed over the reigns of a successful automotive repair business to his son Don, picked up his paintbrush and palette and took it from there.  One of his favourite subjects was the eastern, or "Paris" end of Melbourne's Collins St during the 1960s. He once entered a large Collins St scene in an art show - for exhibition but not for sale. The story goes that one cashed up buyer asked Phil to name his price.  Phil named an exorbitant price, and to his surprise, the buyer agreed!
Phil wasn't just a successful businessman and artist, he was a former Melbourne City Councillor, husband, father, grandfather, friend, cook and raconteur. He began his working life at the age of 14 painting scrollwork on horsedrawn coaches, quickly gaining recognition for his steady hand and good eye for colour and design. At the beginning of the automotive era he recognised an opportunity and quickly started a mobile repair and panel-beating service operating from a trailer on the back of a car.  This soon translated to Armstrong Motor Body Works, and eventually to Armstrong and Son Motor Body works, with branches throughout Melbourne.

Phil died at the age of 94 following an operation. At the time he was a widower, running his own household, cooking, entertaining and creating three dimensional butterflies and garden creatures. If you handed Phil a rock, a golf tee, an oyster shell or a couple of bottle caps he'd find a way to bring some kind of creature to life.

Since Phil died I've been on a mission to bring together a  record of his art, and to this end I've been visiting many of his family and friends to take photos of the paintings he gave them.

This will probably continue to be a work in progress, which is why I've opted to put it in a blog. A big thank you to everyone who has helped so far, and to those whose contributions are yet to come.

The last scene is Canning St, North Melbourne, with the Ukrainian Church to the right.

More pics soon.