Hilda (2017) is a tribute to my great-grandmother, Hilda Gertrude Finley (1886-1974). I was named after my great-grandmothers. Hilda was my mother’s paternal grandmother. While my father’s maternal grandmother, Floortje (Fleur) can be seen in my painting, Family (2014).
I was exceptionally close to my grandfather, Miles and he always spoke with the highest regard for his mother. Because Hilda was a strong and independent woman, with a mind of her own, she inspired me. I particularly liked a black and white photograph of her, which he had hand-coloured. It was this image, taken at the turn of the 20th Century, on which I based my painting, Hilda (2017).
Hilda was born in Friedrichstadt, Latvia in 1886 and was the eldest of seven children. She moved to England when she was a teenager and later married George Finley, with whom she had five children: Hetty, Robert, Miles, Joan and Arthur. Hilda was fluent in Latvian, Russian, German, Yiddish and English. Later, in the 1920s, the family moved to Perth, Western Australia.
Inspirational
Hilda worked as a seamstress and may have created the outfit seen in the painting, Hilda (2017). The Finley family became vegetarian in the 1930’s and were featured in the book, “Vegetarianism in Australia – 1788 to 1948: A Cultural and Social History”.
Hilda (2017) shows the strength of her will, along with her innate sartorial elegance. I kept the blue colour of her blouse, which was most likely the result of hand-colouring the black and white photograph.
I particularly loved capturing the way she wore her clothes and styled her trademark red hair. It was such a pleasure to paint my great-grandmother, that the whole piece only took several hours to complete. The result is a striking painting that shows her both her femininity and her power and will preserve her memory for generations to come.