Excerpt from the Belgian documentary “I Was Born in Portland Town” (Patrick Ferryn – 2005)
Derroll is in his studio, painting and talking:
“But I’ll tell you something... You know the... For example... You’re working the stage, and eh, it’s the same thing as this, in another… like here' you're alone, you’re just working by yourself, on the stage of course you've got the audience... But what you’re doing on the stage is the same thing as this. You’re like a conductor of the orchestra, the audience is the orchestra, and you’re conducting them... and you do this and they cry... you do that and they laugh... the whole thing... you build like that see... Well it’s the same thing with painting... you build here, you build there, it’s all, it’s all... living and dying and breathing and... but this it’s the same thing to me, it’s the same thing to me.
Now let’s see what kinda’pink I can get here... Fool around here a little bit... and maybe turn out to save’m... Beautiful face... Though I hadn’t counted on that one... and…”
“When I was in the Navy, I never thought of becoming an artist or a painter. My mother was on that kind of thing. But I only thought of one thing: when I get out of here, all I want to do is just paint! So that’s why I went to art school. I was thinking of terms of not so much being an artist myself. I didn’t think I had that kind of ability, but I thought I could be an art teacher”.