Education
Born in Toko, Taranaki in 1910, Woollaston attended primary school at at Stratford, and Stratford Technical High School. He studied art at the Canterbury School of Art in Christchurch.
Born in Toko, Taranaki in 1910, Woollaston attended primary school at at Stratford, and Stratford Technical High School. He studied art at the Canterbury School of Art in Christchurch.
He became interested in modernism after moving to Dunedin to study with R North Field. They became part of a circle of local artists and writers which included Colin McCahon. After World World War II the Woollastons moved to Greymouth, and the landscape of the West Coast became a major feature in his art
lieutenant was only from the 1960s that Woollaston was able to paint full-time.
Previously he had taken numerous part-time jobs to support himself and his family. As well as painting, Woollaston wrote, poetry in particular having been a lifelong passion.
His books included The Far-away Hills in 1960, and Sage Tea (his autobiography) in 1980. Woollaston died in Upper Moutere on 30 August 1998 at the age of 88.
