Noticing a customer's tattoos, reading books on New Zealand history, watching his daughter write - these everyday experiences find their way into Tony de Lautour's work.
The Christchurch artist made a name for himself in the 1990s with paintings featuring motifs drawn from amateur tattoo spider webs, guns, knives, teardrops, chains, lightning bolts and syringes.
They were motifs that came out of his investigation of New Zealand history and identity.
''They just started to have a life of their own after that.''
The reaction to the work, exhibited under the banner ''Bad White Art'', at that time was mixed.
''Most people saw the humour in the work as well as seeing that it was also a more serious comment on the identity of the country and how we saw ourselves. A few people got upset, which was quite funny.''
Reading about early New Zealand history also led to his creation of works from the folk art and old paintings he had begun collecting in the 1980s.
''Many of them were damaged and I thought I would restore them one day. However instead of restoring them I just started making my own additions.
''The landscape paintings were so empty they looked like started stage sets waiting for the actors to arrive. I provided the actors and action.''
His work over the past 30 years has been brought together by Christchurch Art Gallery in a touring exhibition being shown at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
''I could also clearly see the origin of the more recent abstract work in the early figurative work. There were formal elements and colours that I see recurring and being recycled in my work.''
De Lautour's work has evolved, but since the Christchurch earthquakes his direction towards abstraction has become fixed.
''Just prior to the earthquakes my work was heading towards abstraction.
''It is hard to explain now, but at the time the abstract shapes and blocks of colour just seemed more real and relevant to me than anything figurative.''
''More recently having a family has influenced my work.
''I see the colours of the children's books and toys coming out in the paintings, also a recent series was directly influenced by watching my daughter Claudia trying to write.''
Having a young family makes it hard to get the right balance but he and partner Holly Best, a photographer, are lucky to be able to work from home and spend time with their children.
''If I have paintings in progress I am quite happy to go into the studio when there is time and work on them until I have to do something else. I don't need to be in the studio from 9 to 5 doing an 8-hour day, actually having too much time in the studio can be counterproductive.''
He works in his home's double garage.
''It can be a bit cramped at times but I like being able to go and work for a while then go off to do any chores around the house or read for a while.''
De Lautour, who was born in Australia in 1965 but came to New Zealand two years later, graduated from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in 1988, majoring in sculpture.
Becoming an artist had been his goal since he was 15-years-old and realised there were people who were full-time artists.
''I thought I'd like to do that as well. Of course, achieving it wasn't that easy.''
De Lautour also believes getting involved with good dealer galleries makes it easier.
''I also won the Visa Gold award in the mid-90s which probably helped with wider recognition and certainly helped financially.''
These days he describes himself as mostly a painter although he does some sculpture. He has recently been making sculptures from found materials and regularly makes woodcuts and etchings.
''But in some ways they are three-dimensional paintings. Maybe I'm a sculptor who paints.''
It is the problem-solving he likes most about being creative.
''Of course they are problems that you have totally made for yourself. I don't begin by having a painting all mapped out and just colour it in. Usually I have an idea of what I want to do, then I start and see how it goes.
''I think I like it better if they are difficult or problematic, making decisions on colours, composition, having to make changes to your initial idea. I think that is how you get better as a painter, by making it difficult for yourself at times.''
He is inspired by many things - the colours of cartoons, old abstract paintings, old toys, things he reads about.
''It all goes in, comes out again eventually.''
A collector at heart, de Lautour is known to pick up all sorts of things from old books, tin toys, folk art and old Staffordshire figures.
''I know with the folk art or naive art I am drawn to a directness and authenticity they have as objects or paintings. I think they do inform my paintings, sometimes quite directly, other times in more subtle ways that I only notice later on.''
In the past, to support himself he used to work part-time trading antiques and old books and occasionally now he will buy and sell old books.
''Mainly out of habit and because I like to search for things, spend time at fairs.''
At the moment de Lautour is working on paintings which have developed out of the most recent works from the ''Initial letters and modern letters'' series that is being exhibited at DPAG.
