Cafe Oska, Byron Bay, 2005
How I broke my neck (more…)
My name is Norval Watson. I am an artist and musician working in painting, video, and music. I also play around with 3D graphics, games, animation, websites, Linux, and open source.
I am recovering well from a devastating spinal injury I sustained in September, 2006. I can walk but not run.
Shinobu, me, Hiro, Byron, 2009
Here I am, outside the Spinal Unit at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, with friends and rescuers Grant Woolfrey, Phil Morrow, Magnus Horton, and Mick McClennan. Absent: Torbjorn Presthaus Photo: Carolyn Watson, 2006
I was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1957.
I spent most of my childhood at Point Cook, on the shores of Port Phillip Bay. I had a happy time with my parents, sister, three brothers, and lots of friends.
Watson family Christmas card, 1963
My interest in art and the ocean became apparent at a very early age. My first artwork, a Christmas card of a man o’ war, was published when I was five years old and I remember catching my first wave at Ballina, NSW, at about the same time.
I left school in 1975 and wandered around for 20 years until reaching Byron Bay, where I now live.
Some of the many jobs I have had over the past twenty-five years include surfboard builder, veterinary assistant, newspaper trainee, surf magazine manager, builder’s laborer, landscaper, barman, bar manager, photographer, film-maker, stuntman, tutor, fruit-picker, painter, demolition worker, muralist, traffic counter, security, dish-washer, chef, retail, shop owner, itinerant laborer, web dude, and many more.
My favourite job was working as a motorcycle courier for Data Express, in Melbourne, Australia, where I broke all the company records in 1987.
These days, I make paintings, videos, and music, and go to the beach with my two dogs.
Skimboarding, South Australia, 2005
Sunshine Series, 2006