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Laurie Burgess is not just any courier.
About 20 years ago, he made the decision to move only art across the country.
The back of his van is packed with paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics which he ferries to galleries, buyers, and art competitions around Australia.
He clocks up 1 million kilometres every four years, working 16-hour days.
Along the way, he’s developed an appreciation and knowledge of the Australian art world few could rival.
“This is not me blowing my own trumpet, but there is no one person that sees as many galleries as myself or as many artists as myself,”
Mr Burgess said.
Mr Burgess has travelled millions of kilometres in his trusty van. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
It means gallery owners and artists are often calling him wanting to know what’s happening in the world of contemporary art.
“There’s a lot of emotion in art. A lot of artists can be rather anxious at times and so you’ve got to sort of help them to keep their spirits up,” Mr Burgess said.
When the pandemic hit, many feared art sales would dive.
“I said, ‘Well, if people are going to sit there staring at the walls, maybe they’re going to buy something to put on that wall’, and as it turned out … it was actually quite good.“
Mr Burgess says the Covid19 pandemic was “quite good” for art sales. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
Owner of Handmark Gallery in Hobart Allanah Dopson said it was essential for artists to be able to move their art across the country.
“It’s really good for artists to enter interstate prizes and to get recognition and get their art out there. So, Laurie fills that void really well,” she said.
“We are in awe of Laurie each time he comes and says, ‘Oh, I’ve been across the Nullarbor’ or, ‘Yesterday I was in Sydney.’“
Allanah Dopson says artists often need works moved for interstate competitions. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
Sleeping in his van
Mr Burgess spends most of the year on the road driving between Perth and Hobart and up the east coast of Australia — as far north as Noosa — and back again.
He only takes time off during January and Easter.
He said while his lifestyle was “not for everyone”, he was working hard to save enough money to buy a house and retire.
“It will be the first house I’ve ever bought, the only house I will ever buy,”
he said.
Mr Burgess has retrofitted his van with a sleeping area to save on hotel costs. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
Saving for a home has come with some cost-cutting measures.
He’s built a specially designed sleeping section in his van to save on staying at roadside motels.
“[I can] pull over, crawl into it, no time lost, no time wasted,” he said.
Mr Burgess said a comfortable mattress, doonas and electric blankets were essential.
“[During winter] all I seem to be doing is driving around finding different places to freeze to death, such as out on the Nullarbor or Yass,”
he said.
Some of Mr Burgess’s delivery destinations. (ABC News: Magie Khameneh)
Art appreciation
Mr Burgess’s home ownership dream is taking longer to realise than he expected.
Not only have house prices gone up, but his growing art collection is also getting in the way.
“I do end up buying a little bit [of art]. My accountant said to me I have to stop doing that or I will never have a house to hang them in,”
he said.
Mr Burgess has learnt a thing or two about art over the years. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
Mr Burgess said he never really knew much about art before he started moving it around the country.
But these days he knows what he likes.
“If I had to describe my taste, it’s nickelodeon,”
he said.
Handmark Gallery in Hobart is one of galleries Mr Burgess delivers to. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
“I’m all primary colours, bright colours, movement; and it can be glass, it can be ceramics, it can be paintings, pastels.
“I’ve even got a couple of little pencil drawings and some coloured pen drawings from an emerging artist in Robe, South Australia, which are perfect kitchen drawings.”
But for now, Mr Burgess’s collection is in storage until he is in a position to pull over for a while and take a break from delivering art.
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