The painting began 17 years ago with a photo taken in the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour. Luke picked a costume of a prince in a glorious yellow gown and strolled among the rocks in a dream state.
One of Luke's early memories was seeing a camel sniffing the Great Wall of China. He was 3 years old at the time. In 1993 we lived in Shanghai for 3 months with my wife working in connection with Public Health and myself visiting artists and galleries. I had been interested in the calligraphic styles of the Chinese painters since being a Signwriter in my mid-teens.
With a drawing from my fathers family orchard I introduced the flowering fruit tree with the trunk from an apricot tree which my uncle Len estimated at being 85 years old. I added the blossom from a Crabapple tree, wanting the various pinks to illuminate the work. A few years later some rabbits came in with the one in the foreground popping up at towards the end (Luke had a rabbit called “Rabiolli“).
I have worked on the painting 3 or 4 times over the years but often I looked at it and couldn't see a direction to proceed in. I had to wait and it only came together in the last month (May 2021).
My youngest son ‘The Prince ‘ left us much too early drifting back into the stars.
It was a strange and moving time when I had to portray his face in the work towards the end. He looks out with wisdom not of a boy of 10 but more the age of 15 and I felt his presence in the studio with me. The work surprises me, I can't see how I achieved it. I enjoy combining realities from diverse times and places, to achieve a magical vision.
2000 - 2021 .
Luke Charles Fry
27/ 6 / 1990. — 3 /3 / 2019
He was a patient at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse for four years and was attended to with great care and dedication by all the staff. The work can be viewed in the waiting room for blood tests on the 1st. floor (119 - 143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown NSW, 2050).
The Prince in the orchard
Acrylic,charcoal and pastel cotton
166 x 198 cm. 1999 - 2022
