Here his artistic skills were encouraged and he started learning the intricacies of stage lighting. Rubbing shoulders with both international and national lighting designers his skills quickly developed and he soon found himself creating light shows for the acts that graced the boards of this 8000 seat touring venue.

This was followed by a 2 year stint as the Technical Director for the Western Australian Ballet Company. As well as lighting the majority of the company's productions he started to design and construct the stage settings for some of their ballets.

Following his heart, he again traversed the country relocating in Queensland. He kept body and soul together with itinerant theatrical work and whilst resting between engagements his passion for drawing and painting resurfaced. A move south to NSW saw his obsession with painting increase to the extent that his theatrical pursuits became a part time quest for a livelihood.

After 18 months in the premier state he was off across the continent again with his soon to be wife in tow. The painting bug was now firmly entrenched and he enrolled at The Claremont School of Art. After the completion of his first year he held his first solo exhibition at the Octagon Theatre on the campus of the University of WA. During that year, he also designed the sets and the lighting for the Plays Plus Players production of Dennis Potters' Son of Man to universal critical acclaim.

Still an indifferent student, instead of returning to art school for his second year, he set up his own studio and commenced to paint full time. Following the pattern set by his time in NSW, he kept body and soul together for himself and his young family with itinerate theatrical work. His second one man exhibition entitled "Hung up on a Wall" created some controversy with adjacent business owners and the owners of the building in which gallery was housed. The poster advertising the exhibition, an abstracted nude self portrait, was the cause of the commotion.

The arrival of his third child impressed upon Bateman that neither his art nor itinerate theatrical work would produce sufficient income to feed, clothe and educate his small tribe. So he headed south to the WA town of Albany and took over the contract for the management of their Town Hall Theatre.

During this time he kept his artistic side fed with the creation of an advertising company, Manad Management & Promotion. It was very much a hands on operation for Bateman and apart from creating posters and print advertising he turned his talent to producing television commercials. During the last few years of the 10 he spent in Albany he was among the top 5 of advertisers buying air time with the local television station.

The educational needs of his family dictated a return to the big smoke of Perth. He found the next 5 years a challenging time and although polishing his writing skills with free lance work, his art took a back seat. The permanent estrangement from his partner of 20 years and a fight with the bottle did little to remedy the situation.

At the turn of the century, Bateman convinced Centrelink, the Australian Government's social security agency, he was the man to produce a carved mural for their Perth call centre. During this project, he discovered digital photography.

The works you see on this web site, at his exhibitions, of which he has had 13, on his blog and in his books are the result of his new found engagement with his art that this chance encounter enabled. The authoring of a book was new learning curve for Bateman and with his new partner at his side, he has published a second and has the ideas for a couple more rattling around in the back of his brain. At the same time he continues to explore and refine the art that his camera and computer allow him to produce.