Talking Portfolio: Episode Four
Behind the Painting: Age
I painted my grandmother, Betty, as a young woman in my piece, Family, but I also wanted to capture her as she approached the end of her life.
When I painted Timeless, she was approaching 100 years old and still full of life. She had aged gracefully. In my Flipbook, you can see her transformation from photograph to work of art.
The lines on her face show a woman who lived a long and eventful life, with poise and grace.
In spite of my grandmother’s old age, her beauty was timeless. Most people never make it to age 100, let alone do it with such style.
Behind the Painting: Style
My grandmother always dressed fashionably, often in clothes she had kept for many years. She wore leather gloves in the winter and had an impressive collection of chiffon scarves with which to accessorise.
She was very short, not even 150cm (5ft) tall. Until her late 90s, she insisted on wearing high heels for all occasions.
Betty defied convention and grew her white hair until it almost touched her waist. She wore clothes that she liked and colours that suited her, no matter if they were age appropriate, such as the vivid magenta of her shirt in the painting. Her femininity and her beauty were timeless.
Behind the Painting: Struggle
My grandmother was a survivor and an incredibly tough woman. She taught me that women could do anything and she was living testament to that.
Betty was fiercely independent and lived alone for the last decades of her life.
She was told that due to severe Scoliosis she would be in a wheelchair by age 50.
She defied the medical experts and continued to walk, usually in a pair of high heels, for the duration of her life.
Although my grandmother experienced a great deal of adversity, her message was one of tolerance and spoke at length about her life and her will to survive. I encourage you to read a chapter I wrote to learn more about her story.
For many years, my grandmother spoke at the Holocaust Institute of Western Australia about her experiences. This video below highlights key moments in her survival: