Bill Bingham writes:

I needed to examine my colleagues’ passions before I started this, because I didn’t want to overlap too much. I do so admire someone for having a dog in a big city (beyond me), golf (no), tennis (not anymore, thanks), Chelsea FC (who?), spinning and weaving (lovely results). As for the National Rail working locomotive no 86259, now that is a passion – what 9-year-old schoolboy, or even girl, hasn’t cherished thoughts of driving a train?

One Boom colleague loves to cook, and so do I, but call me more contented than passionate about it. I have two, dare I say signature, dishes: salmon parcels served with butter-smothered boiled potatoes (Jersey Royals are great at the moment) and green stir-fry, and I also make a mean ratatouille (recipes available on request).

The nearest thing to an actual passion in my life has been collecting contemporary art. I’ve been lucky enough to socialise with quite a few painters, printers and sculptors (some of them have become RAs), and one or two pieces I own by them may be of value – but that’s not why I have them. I just love them, ever since I first spotted them, sometimes at gallery private views.

Actually, now I think about it, my enthusiasm must have begun in 1974 when a Liverpool College of Art tutor gave me an ink and water-colour drawing of Geronimo's Cadillac. Peter Mousdale had been captivated by the singer-songwriter Claire Hamill’s song of that name after he’d heard my late-night interview with her on Radio City. Not long after meeting Peter, I befriended two great Liverpool painters, Maurice Cockrill and Adrian Henri, whose work I cherish.

The nearest thing to having a genius idea was to commission several self-portraits for my 50th birthday. They arrived, eventually, and I was able to give a dinner party in a small gallery in Soho in 1993, with the artists at the table, surrounded by their own faces on the walls (there were one or two sculptures, as well).

Collecting has stopped – to save money, but mostly because there’s no more wall space. However, I’m very lucky to share my life with Sue, another art lover, whose father, Richard Walker, was one of the founders soon after WWII of the Government Art Collection, buying mostly British work (often from the artists themselves) for Ministry premises, no 10, and British embassies who wanted a taste of home on their walls.

Now, he was a collector – I loved him, and I’m proud to say I helped him compile a fascinating family memoir, and his last publication, an anthology of his literary and artistic passions.

Try buying some original art – go to private views when you’re invited (the wine’s invariably free), and if you see something that captures your attention, and you can afford it, take it home. I can tell you, you could well end up becoming quite art-passionate yourself.

Bill

Bill Bingham - Sunday night at 10pm on Boom Radio