A Portrate of Life

I remember over 10 years ago mother telling me this story.
Mother was living alone at her home in Morrisett NSW.
Always the "planner and the do'er" mother was always on the run, hardly stopping to gather it all in at times.

Mother once told me that a close friend of hers was an artist and that "Anne" wanted to paint mothers portate. Mother didnt know what to make of it, her first comment being - "how long do I have to sit still for?". Well Anne sorted things out and managed to get a number of good photos of mother from different angles so mother only had to sit through a photo session. Many months went past before I heard anything else about the painting progress, until this 1 phone call mother mentioned it.... "Anne is almost finished but I dont like the way she has done my jaw/mouth" , I remember replying with words similar to "Artists take alot of latitude in there work mom!". Mother went on to say that Anne intended to submit the portrate in "The Archibald Prize" when it was finished... "The Archibald Prize" is the highest achievement for artists in Australia.
I dont recall much other detail than mother telling me it was finished and she liked the final result, still mentioning her chin in the portrate...

Anyway > as ive been going through mothers box's of paperwork and stories I find photo's tucked under here, lost/hidden in an envelope there etc.....

I Find This Photo of Mother & Her Portrate


.... the photo is dated 1998. I first found this photo in late January, I have never seen it before, nor have I seen the actual portrate. I knew the moment I saw this photo that I needed to find the artist and tell her of mothers passing.

Today I spoke with Anne for the first time as I had no contact details for her, it took some time to track her down. Anne wish's to pass on her deepest condolences to our family. Anne offered the fact that she still has the portrate proudly displayed in her gallery/studio. Anne and I spoke for half and hour about mother and the portrate, telling me that it made it to the final 20 in "The Archibald Prize". I made the enquiry and Anne agreed to sell the portrate to me. I wont be able to collect it until later in the year and I would not think of having it shipped to me for fear of damage. I look forward in the future to posting a picture of "this photo next to the portrate".

We Will Love You Always Mother