What Happened !
What Happened!
I have recently started dabbling in portraiture. The human face is endlessly fascinating. We look into each other’s faces—particularly the eyes—to read emotion, gather visual cues, communicate, and interpret mood. It’s no wonder portraiture has such enduring appeal. Major exhibitions like the Archibald Prize continue to draw huge audiences because, as humans, we are deeply fascinated by the face.
Portraiture, however, is not easy.
Capturing a true likeness is incredibly difficult, and whether we like it or not, we often judge a portrait by how successfully that likeness has been achieved.
I’ve always enjoyed a challenge, and I’m constantly looking for ways to push myself in this art-making journey. So I decided to start practising portraits more seriously. The best way to improve? Do it every day.
That led me to commit to the 100 Day Project, painting or drawing a portrait each day.
Then, for some strange reason, I got it into my head to enter a self-portrait into the portrait section of the Dardanup Art Spectacular. I’m still not entirely sure what I was thinking—I hadn’t even finished the painting when I entered!
Eventually I completed the work, but I had serious doubts about whether it was good enough to submit at all. Still, I had paid the entry fee, so I sheepishly delivered it and tried not to think too much about it. When Rob framed it for my I said “Don’t glue this one in because I’ll probably paint over it.”
Well… you could have knocked me over with a feather.
I won.
When my name was called out on presentation night, I was completely stunned.
Sometimes the biggest rewards come from the things that scare us most—the things we almost talk ourselves out of doing. This experience reminded me that growth often happens when we step outside our comfort zone, even when self-doubt is loudly tagging along.
So perhaps the lesson here is simple: back yourself, take the risk, and submit the work anyway.
You never know what might happen.