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Accepted into the Black Swan Portrait Award

Writer's picture: JillAnsellJillAnsell

Updated: Jan 8, 2019

Very excited about this. I have had a look on the website and the entries are excellent, so my inclusion is a little daunting, but wonderful. www.blackswanprize.com.au

I had originally wanted to do a portrait of a fellow artist, but after he went cold on the idea I was left with my own face at short notice. I was my own last resort!


As I was approaching my 50th birthday it proved an interesting task to be forced to examine myself as a subject.  I have placed a portrait of myself peering out quizzically from within an old case, surrounded by the sort of oddments that I store away, planning to use one day or that are of sentimental value and useless,but I can't parted with.They are the sort of things we keep hidden away in old cases and tins and almost forget about. They are also the bits of other people’s lives that you can’t throw away. I have painted a sketchy portrait of my 21 year old self on the inside of the case lid looking blankly into the future. My older self looks back to her with wry amusement.

I took my glasses off as I didn’t want to paint myself peering over the top of them, and the effect is flatteringly soft focus. I couldn’t see my wrinkles. My youngest child wants me to put them in....

On another note I was lucky to get my entry in at all. My camera broke the night before the entry was due (my fault - they do not bounce when dropped from 5 feet) and friend and professional photographer Jeff Atkinson rescued me with great shots in the last hours before entries closed.


Thanks Jeff.

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