Tonal
Harmony II an exhibition of paintings by Royden O. Gibbs will be held from
February 27 - March 2 at the Alliance Francaise de Colombo. The exhibition will
display over 40 paintings done by the artist, using a rather unusual medium
contrary to that used by most artists - water colours.
Indeed, viewing Gibb's paintings justifies the words of the renowned artist J.M.W. Turner who said that if one calls oneself an artist and is unable to paint in water, one is not really an arist. Gibbs uses the subtle blend of colours such as light green, blue, etc. to bring to life the scenic beauty he views, during his trips out of Colombo every weekend. Furthermore he is able to capture the atmosphere of the areas he visits.... like for instance "Twilight at Tissa Weva' or 'a Morning at the bird sanctuary in Attidiya'.
"Many say that I am an Impressionist and that my work is simplified. What I really want is to create an illusion in the minds of those who view my paintings. For instance this is really a croton tree" he said, pointing to one of his paintings, but at a distance it appears to be a mass of colour. He adds that his work is very suggestive. "Water is very deceptive and the reason why I say this is because the manner in which I shade it emphasizes the crystal clear water and its cooling effect. What is unique about using water colours is that one is able to capture transparency," he said.
Gibbs who describes himself as a commercial artist, has been painting since his childhood purely for the love of it. He has worked in several Advertising Agencies as a Creative Director and even now does some free-lance assignments. Gibbs has also followed Art Classes at the Mudaliyar Amarasekera School of Painting and at the Cora Abraham Art School.
He went onto say that apart from concentration and perseverance one also needs to put in a lot of effort towords a painting. "My journeys give me the opportunity of talking to the people in the area and thus educating myself on the different areas by listening to their history and folklore. Some days when I leave home my destination may be Avissawella, but for a couple of days my family may not hear from me. A painting at the end of my journey speaks much about where I have been," he smiled.
"In art one has to train one's eye to colour, whereas in music one has to train one's ear to listen to music. Some people take photographs and copy them in their paintings. However, this restricts the artist, if for instance the picture is in dark brown or black", he said.
Gibbs feels sad about the fact that most young artists today, are not disciplined and do not traverse the hard way. "Even in the cases of artists like George Keyt it took many years to produce quality work. I feel that the youngsters in Sri Lanka are stunted and many of them merely re-produce the work of renowned painters. They are very talented, but after a point they get into a groove and do not get enough exposure or guidance. One should be sincerely interested in art and more importantly, be true to oneself", he concluded.
"Tonal Harmony II" will be declared open by the Chairman of the Urban Development Authority (UDA), Surein Wickremasinghe. It is being sponsored by the Hong Kong Bank.
About the same time last year, three well known young artistes, Ananda Dabare - (violin), Dushy Perera - (cello), Ramya de Livera Perera - (piano), performed at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.
Through the ages, many composers have been inspired to write for this combination of instruments. The programme selected for the evening of February 28 at 7 p.m. is in this genre.
Schubert's Piano Trio in B major is one of the most popular works written for this kind of ensemble by the composer. It is mainly written for the two string instruments, which are frequently engaged in an intimate dialogue ably supported by the piano. Schubert's natural talent for writing beautiful melodies is so cleverly woven into this rich texture of form, colour and rhythmic design.
Another piece of music selected is the Piano Trio by Arensky a Russian composer Like Tchaikovsky, who admired this young prodigy, he was a product of the Russian Conservatory. The true dark, romantic tones, interspersed with rhapsodic sections is heard in the first two movements. The third movement spells grief and desolation and the fourth movement snaps out of it from the very start. A beautiful folk tune is introduced for a brief moment to remind us of the patriotism which is so evident throughout the work.
The artistes have chosen yet another popular trio, this time by Mozart. This work never lacks interest, maintaining wit, clarity and precision between the players.
The proceeds of the concert will be donated to the Lionel Wendt Piano Fund, set up by the Trustees to meet a long felt need to purchase a Concert Grand for use by musicians performing at the theatre.
Living in quiet retirement in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley is a former pilot who flew Spit-
fires in World War Two and, later, became an airline captain with Air India and Air Ceylon. He is Mervyn Rex De Silva, better known to friends as 'M.R.' or just plain 'Rex'.
Rex De Silva was one of several young Ceylonese men, hand-picked by the British during the war, who went on to excel in service and defence of the British Empire to which Ceylon then belonged. However, his yearning to fly began long before wartime.
Rex De Silva was born in November 1918, son of railway Head Guard John Walter De Silva and his wife Freda (nee Ebert). After his father's untimely death from malaria, Rex left St. Peter's College, Bambalapitiya and became a stenographer to support his widowed mother. But a passion for flying had already stirred when, as a youngster, he used to watch fascinated as Fleet Air Arm aircraft from visiting naval vessels flew over Colombo. Then there were pilots from the Madras Flying Club who operated joyflights from the Colombo Racecourse. Again, all Rex could do was gaze in awe and longing, unable to afford the few rupees charged for a short flight. In 1940 Lord Leverhulme of the Lever Brothers Company announced a scholarship to enable a deserving Ceylonese man or woman to train as a pilot. Along with over 200 others Rex De Silva applied, and after two gruelling interviews found himself on a shortlist of 5 or 6 candidates for the final flying aptitude test.
The test was a daunting proposition for Rex who had never sat inside an aircraft before, let alone flown in one. He also knew that a few of his rivals for the scholarship had prior flying lessons.
When first smitten by the aviation 'bug', Rex had bought a book titled Teach Yourself to Fly. Each night after his mother had gone to bed, he would perch himself on her old piano stool and using a dried twig for a joystick he would diligently follow the instructions in the book. Swivelling this way and that, turning and twisting his body as if he were actually in the air, Rex taught himself all the basic flying moves. One night there was hell to pay when he toppled off the stool.
A week or so after his flying test, Rex was delighted to hear that he had won the Lord Leverhulme flying scholarship. Soon afterwards he commenced his lessons at Ratmalana. Under Duncanson's expert tutelage Rex made his first solo flight after just 4 hours and 35 minutes of dual instruction - a remarkable accomplishment indeed.
Rex settled happily into the ambience of the Aero Club, then largely a British preserve. Most days he would take his flying lessons in the relatively calm air of early morning before proceeding to his regular job as stenographer. In February 1941 he and another young Ceylonese flyer, St. Elmo Muller, made headlines when they became the first private pilots and Aero Club members to successfully complete a cross-country flight from Ratmalana to Madras and return.
But war clouds beckoned. In 1941 Rex De Silva applied and was selected to join the Royal Air Force as a member of the first batch of Ceylonese recruits for overseas service. Arriving in England after a perilous, circuitous sea voyage, he joined the RAF Elementary Flying Training School at Fairoaks.
Rex flew with 504 Squadron from May 1943 to January 1944. From fighter stations like Ibsley, Church Stanton and Redhill, he performed all the duties of a wartime fighter pilot. If not 'scrambling' time after time to intercept invading German aircraft, he would escort slow, lumbering bombers as they crossed the Channel to drop their lethal loads over Germany and other parts of enemy occupied Europe. In March 1944 Rex De Silva returned to Ceylon where he joined 17 Squadron, then 'resting' at Minneriya and Vavuniya after fighting the Japanese from bases in Calcutta and Chittagong. When the squadron left for Assam in November to rejoin the fray, Rex went with them. From Assam they soon moved to Burma, helping to drive the enemy eastwards into ultimate defeat.
When he began flying with 17 Sqdn. in Assam, Rex's new Commanding Officer was Squadron Leader J.H. "Ginger" Lacey. The tough, red-haired Yorkshireman had already become a legend in his lifetime as the top-scoring fighter pilot in the 1940 Battle of Britain.
Compared to England, Rex De Silva remembers conditions in Assam and Burma as less than ideal. Tents or makeshift lean-to huts provided accommodation; water was often scarce, with venomous snakes and malarial mosquitoes an ever-present threat. Food consisted of 'bully beef' (tinned corned beef) morning, noon and night.
Despite the protection of Gurkha foot patrols, there was danger from sniper attack by Japanese soldiers lurking in the hills and jungles surrounding the rough RAF airstrips. But, unlike the war in Britain where air-to-air combat was the order of the day, most of the attacks carried out by 17 Sqdn. were against ground targets. One day Rex and his Spitfire MT 719 helped to blow up a Japanese oil installation. The ensuing flames and smoke rose to a spectacular 8000 feet! With the Japanese finally routed, the squadron relocated to India. In June 1945 Rex found himself assigned to a unit in Bangalore and, later, back in Ceylon as a Flight Controller at RAF Negombo (Katunayake). But prospects of a long-term military flying career had all but disappeared, so Rex applied for demobilisation from the RAF and entered 'civvy street' as a pilot with Air India in July 1946.
Based in Bombay, he commenced as a First Officer (co-pilot) flying mainly Douglas DC-3 Dakotas. In just six months he was promoted to Captain. Among the routes he operated, Rex frequently flew the Air India service from Bombay to Ratmalana, giving him the opportunity of regularly visiting his mother in Colombo. On other occasions, Rex used to fly the company's smaller Beechcraft C-45 when airline founder and chairman J.R.D. Tata visited other parts of the Tata industrial empire, notably his soap factory in Kerala.
While working for Air India, Rex met a pretty air hostess named Dorothy Armer, whom he married in 1947. Celebrating their golden wedding anniversary this year, Rex and Dorothy have a son John, a daughter Jennifer, and five grandchildren.
December 1947 saw the inaugural flight of Ceylon's first national airline, Air Ceylon. Not long afterwards, a senior Air Ceylon official invited Rex to return to his homeland and fly for the new airline. The decision was not hard to make. After all, Dorothy much preferred living in Ceylon to her native India.
So, in March 1948 Capt. Rex De Silva became an Air Ceylon pilot, just in time to command the historic one-off flight to Burma taking the sacred Sariputta/Moggallana relics for exposition in Rangoon, Mandalay and Akyab. The flight was greeted with much religious fervour everywhere they stopped in Burma (now Myanmar), masking the tension in the country following the recent assassination of Aung San and six other members of the Burmese government.
Later, Rex rose to the rank of Chief Pilot, Air Ceylon. Even before this, he had been authorised to carry out in-flight training of co-pilots, building up their proficiency towards ultimate captaincy. Those he trained included P.B. Mawalagedera and George Ferdinand, both of whom later became highly-regarded managerial pilots with Air Ceylon.
Also while flying DC-3 Dakotas for Air Ceylon, Rex De Silva devoted spare time to testing private pilots from the Ceylon Air Academy for their licence renewals. Using light aircraft like Tiger Moths and Stinson Sentinels, among those he helped train was Miss Janet Vairakiam, one of the first Ceylonese women to obtain a Private Pilot's Licence. In July 1954, after more than six years with the airline, Rex quit Air Ceylon for reasons he prefers to describe as "personal". But aviation fuel still coursed through his veins, so early the next year he joined the Ceylon Air Academy flying their De Havilland Dragon Rapide. This was a twin-engine, twin-wing aeroplane largely built of wood and fabric, a sort of bigger cousin to the Tiger Moth.
The Air Academy used it at the time to operate a small domestic service between Ratmalana, Minneriya and Trincomalee (China Bay). There was no air hostess aboard, so it was the pilot's duty to serve the passengers their breakfast of hot hoppers and pol sambol! This job did not last long because later in 1955 Rex, Dorothy and their two children emigrated to Australia. In Melbourne Rex was unsuccessful in continuing a career as a commercial pilot, not through any lack of trying on his part.
He eventually found his niche in local government, reaching the position of Senior Administration Officer in the municipal offices of the City of Waverley. Having retired in 1982, Rex remains a modest, unassuming person who derives much satisfaction from gardening and biblical studies. Modesty aside, the story of his flying career is one of hardship and triumph, and an inspiration to all young people wanting to succeed, not just in aviation, but in any field of endeavour.
Continue to Plus page 4 - He thanks God: 50 years in advertising * Battered, Shattered
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