Paul Bibby
For two-and-a-half weeks she was lost in the wilderness, cast adrift from her Main Arm home.
But yesterday the famous ‘faceless lady’ returned.
After flying off the back of local artist Toni Clarke’s ute on December 5, the now-famous painting was brought back to her home by a young woman from Uki.
Main Arm artist Toni Clarke celebrates the return of her painting, which has been missing since December 5. Image: Facebook
Ms Clarke now plans to auction the painting off to raise money for a local charity.
‘The mystery has been solved – what a great Christmas present!’ a jubilant Ms Clarke said.
‘The lovely lady who picked it up has been trying to find me and today she did.’
‘My faith in humanity continues.’
The return of the painting was just reward for Ms Clarke, her family and friends who pulled out all the stops after the painting was lost as the artist drove a collection of her works to the Byron School of Art for her final graduation exhibition.
After painstakingly searching the area, the group spread the word via social media, The Echo, and hundreds of flyers which were handed out across the region.
The woman who found the work learned of Ms Clarke’s details when her housemate came across one of these flyers at the Main Arm store.
‘After Christmas I’m going to invite her to my studio where I can give her another painting for her efforts,’ she said.
Ms Clarke now wants to share her good fortune with others by auctioning off the painting and giving the proceeds to charity.
‘I just think this is a great opportunity for someone to give the painting a good home and to provide some benefit for the community at the same time.’
Full details of the auction will be published in Echonetdaily and in The Echo after Christmas.
