READ ON if you want to discover this rather strange and unique story about my now missing portrait. It was going to be my entry in the 2024 Archibald Art Prize along with a number of portrait exhibition opportunities. No More
Mysteriously my portrait of the beautiful and amazing “Victoria Pearce” 1270 x 1270mm Oil on Linen, will only ever be a ‘study’ of my subject and a distant memory now, because as of last week I was told by the courier, that “the painting was damaged beyond repair and is now lying in a thousand pieces somewhere on the Hume Highway near the Mossvale exit on the highway in NSW.” If you are driving that road, please keep an eye out for any remnants that might be there. So far we have not found a trace of it.
So my painting literaly has vanished and or you could say is now missing in action. No sign of the painting on the highway and I’m still in shock and confused as to how this could happen.
I received the call from the courier guy, stating “I have bad news for you” He then apologetically explained that the carefully wrapped portrait was placed inside their new transportation truck in Brisbane and while in transit on its way to Canberra to Victoria, the courier said that, “the latches on his rear doors of the new truck (they picked up in Brisbane) came undone and flew open and then my portrait painting flew out of the back of the truck and was hit by two large semi trailers.”
How’s that for a crazy phone call. I asked him, “was anyone hurt?” there was a pause and my heart sank but then he said, “no one got hurt”, but the painting was completely shattered and now lost. My thought was that such an accident could have wiped out a family or killed someone. Thankfully it’s not the disaster it could have become.
I’m still processing the whole nightmare story and thinking about the 8 month long process of making the pigments and bringing the portrait to life. All I can think is that from here on I will dedicate myself to working even harder and of course checking and double checking even the most reliable of couriers.
Thank you to Victoria for trusting me with your portrait and everyone close to me, my family and those true friends who have reached out to encourage and support my growth as an artist and my work. You and your stories are what matters! As this portrait was going to be my next year’s Archibald entry I am now scrambling to get another work ready in time.
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