Roland Jarvis (1926-2016)
'Timelines' short Taster film directed by Mark French in 2009. The full 21 minute film can be viewed on Vimeo.
Roland Jarvis was an unusually multi talented, productive and energetic individual who died at his Hastings studio aged 90 marking the end of an extraordinary life. The gift of a Meccano set when he was seven years of age sparked his formative interest in engineering and training at Kings College, London. However a chance visit to an art exhibition in 1954 had such a profound effect that he swiftly changed direction to retrain as an artist.
Roland studied painting at Chelsea School of Art
where he was taught by amongst others, Henry Moore and Ceri Richards
whose work he much admired. Awarded a French Government scholarship and British Council grant, he studied in Paris from 1956-9, where the Cubist and Surrealist movements had a deep influence on him. Over the next 15 years he lived and worked in a Bushey studio teaching printmaking at Camberwell school of Art.
In 1982 he moved to a converted chapel in Hastings. The warren of rooms provided multiple spaces for painting, etching, a clockmakers workshop and film studio. Teaching part time at Brighton Polytechnic, Roland developed a seasonally based use of this unique space for his work. Drawing and painting during the summer months and retreating to his workshop during the winter, to build Astronomical clocks and make remarkable digital animation films.
Roland was a member of the Rye Society of Artists for over 15 years. He also exhibited at the Brighton College of Art in 1991, Maidstone College of Art, The Royal Academy, The Towner, the Hastings Museum, The Stade Hall and in numerous Open studio events as part of Festivals.
In 'Timelines'
a 20m documentary produced by filmmaker Mark French, he explains, "when people ask how the work is going, I say I'm not working, I'm playing!"
