FULLER, Ronald Harry

1936 - 2017

Ronald Harry John Fuller was born at 23 Dean Road, Liskeard, Cornwall on 21 August 1936, son of Purnell Wesley Fuller (22 May 1897-17 August 1963), a wheelwright, and his wife Ada Etheline née Body (10 January 1895-1988), who married at Liskeard in 1920. After completing his National Service, Ronald studied fine art at Plymouth College of Art and Falmouth School of Art before studying Art and Theatre Design at the Royal College of Art, where he met his future wife, after which he taught printmaking at Bristol and in London colleges. He married at Laxfield, Suffolk in 1962, Moss Fuller née Rosamund Steed, and they had three sons. In 1972, they moved to Willow Cottage, Laxfield in Suffolk. After a career in teaching, he was an artist craftsman concentrating on models and toys in short production runs, developing many techniques for their production. Ron used traditional techniques in painted wood and sheet metal and was influenced by folk-art and his work is highly sought after, being exhibited, and sold in specialist shops all over the world. His 'The Ride of Life' which was commissioned for a shopping centre in Sheffield and although not installed, was exhibited at his solo show at Gainsborough's House Gallery, Sudbury in 1996. He and his wife Moss, were involved with Laurence Thomas Edwards in the newly formed Yew Tree Farm Studios Artistic Community at Laxfield, Suffolk now Butley Mills Studios, and with the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre for over 10 years, producing a number of designs exclusively for C.M.T., such as the ever-popular, 'Lion Tamer' and 'Sheep Shearing Man' and made larger scale pieces such as 'The Circus', and the 'Ticket Stamping Man' for the entrance to the Theatre with a larger than life-size cooper that Ron made, which can be seen working at a beer barrel on the roof of the Chandos pub in Trafalgar Square, London. His contraptions were used on inauguration at Southwold Pier some of them still surviving today [2020]. Plans for some of his designs can be seen in the book 'Simple Wooden Toys' (Quarto Publishing 1995). Ronald Harry John Fuller died on 2 July 2017.

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Works by This Artist