It was a slightly melancholy selfie sent from the other side of the world that inspired Albie Eeles to paint a picture of her dad.
With her ‘papa’ sharing a picture while in London for work, the seven-year-old from Bangalow decided to paint his picture for a class project on portraiture.
‘He was in London and I missed him,’ the Bangalow Primary School student says.
Emotions of the moment
Not only did the painting capture the emotions of the moment, but it would also later capture the attention of the judges in the Young Archie competition – the junior version of the Archibald Prize.
The striking artwork was selected as a finalist for the 5–8-year-old category and is now proudly hanging in the NSW Art Gallery.
The youngster went down to Sydney two weeks ago to see her painting and was more than a little chuffed.
‘Excited!’ was Albie’s brief but energetic description of her feelings upon seeing her painting in the exhibition.
Free tickets to the Archibalds
The gallery made the young artist and her family feel special, giving them free tickets to the full Archibald Prize exhibition and showing them around.
‘We’re very proud of Albie and very impressed by the gallery,’ Albie’s mum Leila says.
‘They made such a fuss of us – people were even asking for autographs.’
‘I remember when she did the painting I thought, “there’s something about this one, but maybe I’m just biased because I’m her mum”. I’m glad the judges saw something special too.’
Held every year in conjunction with the Archibald Prize, the Young Archie competition is judged by the NSW Art Gallery’s family programs manager, and a guest judge, based on merit and originality.
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