Paul Capsis

So when I went to high school and when it was apparent by year nine that I was in trouble, real trouble,

that the teachers, some of the teachers would go out of their way, stand up to the principal and other teachers to help me.

I'd lock myself in there and I would work on the school magazine.

I was starting to work on... I was doing sculpture, so I was doing these clay heads.

I have a few of them still in my yard.

I just...

I started off doing these figures, these Greek, like in the Greek, early Greek style.

I had a wonderful art, wonderful art teachers, Miss Day and all these other wonderful people.

And, and I, and I, I made a little documentary or a little photo feature film with Super 8 film with my, one of my art teachers on Janis Joplin.

I discovered her actually when I was 12.

When I left one of the public schools, I was at Bourke Street and then I had to repeat the year and I couldn't bear the idea of going back to that school.

And the same teacher.

So I, I refused to go.

It was really interesting because it was the first time I just stood up for myself and my mother said, well, where are you going to go?

You have to go to that school because it's the closest school.

So I went and researched and I found another school up Crown Street called Crown Street Public School.

And I said to my mother, I want to go there.

And my mother was like, well, that's too much trouble.

You have to go far away.

All the way to Crown Street.