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Alex Davern |
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Josie Riches – Nicole
I began painting portraits by default. “I like to paint … I don’t know what to paint … People are interesting … I’ll paint people!” I have roped many friends and family members into sitting for me. Nicole was always reluctant. Self-consciousness perhaps. In relation to this portraiture prize, I had heard it said that the subject needn’t be a person of letters or fame, but that the artist should choose someone of significance to them. My first thought was Nicole. I was pushy against my nature, she succumbed against her will (I did have plan B just in case). Nicole and I are opposites in just about every way: personality, background, appearance, ambitions and often opinions. The things we have in common are few but priceless: friendship, faith and ten years of history (or is it eleven?), four of which have been spent as house-mates in a household of five in Launceston. In the words of Elbert Hubbard, “Your friend is the [one] who knows all about you and still likes you.” By this standard we are truest of friends. There are few with whom I’ve laughed and cried so much and who have made such an impression on me. She has helped shape who I am and I know she would say the same of me. Friends for life, without a doubt. I hope that I have captured in this painting something of the spirit of this beautiful, fun-loving, adventure-seeking, body-boarding, coffee-drinking, nurse, Tasmanian and dear friend Nicole.
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