Lorne artist Robert Julian COY (1948-1999)

Robert Julian Coy was 23 when he moved to Lorne in 1971. He had just sold a business he commenced in 1968 called Surf Dive ‘n Ski. He sold the business to move to Lorne, arguably then the surfing capital of the West Coast. Bob was a surfer, an artist, a musician and a graphic designer. He’d been surfing the west coast since 1964.

Bob lived in Hopetoun Terrace untill he passed away in 1999. Bob’s oil paintings recall the beauty and wonder of the Lorne coast, with the intrigue and sunlight of the inner forests that are the the Otways. At some time in 1974, a ‘minder’ for Prince Charles returned to Geelong on a mission to seek out art works of the Great Ocean Road. Originally a member of Prince Charles’s security team when the Prince was at Timbertop,  he discovered Robert Coy in Lorne.

Today, in Westminster Abbey, Bob Coy’s oil painting of ‘Eagle on the Mount’ adorns the walls of the Abbey, a stark reminder of the talent Bob possessed.

Bob was also a talented musician who played guitar, keyboards, drums and was also a blues singer. His last band was ‘SilverHair’. His artwork lives on in the homes of family and friends and of the many  bought from local galleries. Others commissioned for particular scenes.

In a book written by Ian C. Hunt titled ‘Feel the Sea Wind’, Bob’s etchings of the early guesthouses in and around Lorne are featured. There are over twenty guest houses that existed in the early 1900’s that were ‘inked’ by Bob. They were done at a time when an infected hand hospitalised him. They capture the elegance that existed for wealthier holiday makers back then, who travelled to Lorne in the first cars and horse drawn carriages.

Source:

http://acoyview.blogspot.com/search?q=Robert+Coy (accessed 17 September 2024)