TRIBUTES have been paid to an "inspirational" and "dedicated true artist".
Lecturer Rob Fuller's sudden death at the age of just 56 at the end of May left a huge gap at Peterborough Regional College, where he taught visual arts with distinction for more than 14 years.
Today, family and friends remembered the man who they said, "looked at the world in a different way and saw it through different eyes".
Born in Eye, near Peterborough, in 1951, Rob soon moved with his parents and siblings John and Jane to Thorney, where his father was a well-known doctor.
He originally planned to be a vet, until the lure of art took hold, and he decided to move away from the medical family business and pursue his creative leanings by attending art college in London.
On completing his degree, he travelled to India and started a life-long passion for the country which influenced his work for the rest of his life.
His brother, Dr Jonathan Fuller, said: "When he was younger, he would often sit in the background, taking everything in around him. He never gave up on people and was incredibly dedicated to his art."
On his return from India, he worked in a homeless hostel, where he met his wife, Sue, and they scraped enough money together to get married in 1980, with Sue's dress costing only £7.
The couple had four children together, Sam, Joshua, Holly and Isaac, and Sue described him as an amazing father who loved his kids.
She said: "He was a beautiful man and felt strongly that art should be about original thought. He was a great guy who thought everybody should have the right to express themselves.
"But most of all he was a real human being and we miss him so much."
Rob was a true Renaissance man, his talents encompassed all the visual arts including painting, graphics and promotional work, printing, illustration, sculpture, installation and, in more recent years, theatre set design.
Colleague Sadie Tibbett said Rob had been a driving force in establishing the Performing Arts department at the college in 1995 and had recently stepping into a new role, production arts: design and technical co-ordinator, created especially for him.
She said: "He was so talented and passionate about his work. He was an inspiration to the students, he gave them the courage to explore, experiment and to push beyond boundaries in a secure, non-judgmental way.
"We will all miss Rob, and there is no way to describe what an impact he had upon us and our lives. He was so unassuming that it would embarrass him to know just what grief his death has caused"
Daphne Eastburn worked with Rob for many years, and said: "Hundreds of art and design students have learned so much from Rob and have felt privileged to have been taught by him.
"He enabled students to consider their work in many different ways and always sought to make the learning process challenging.
"He was a modest man and a very gifted artist who never lost the passion for his subject, he made a difference and will be seriously missed by all of us."
Posted By: Maria Monica Rocha
Tuesday, August 12th 2008 at 11:35AM
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