It had the council ranger in a frenzy – couldn’t she cover it up with a tea towel?
Only if council covered up all of the nudes in the Norman Lindsay Gallery, was Birgitte Hansen’s reply.
It was 2001 and Ms Hansen had painted a large-scale mural on the front of her house in Blackheath, which is in a prominent position on the highway at the corner of Evans Lookout Road.
Most of it was fine, the ranger thought, apart from the nude woman beside the front door. His doubts were echoed by several Christian ladies who wrote to Ms Hansen, fearful she was about to open a brothel.
I've survived my life as a working artist. I'm pretty proud of that.
- Birgitte Hansen
In the end, the mural stayed and has since provided a very colourful welcome to the village.
But Ms Hansen herself is now leaving, returning to live in her home town of Newcastle, near her son and grandchildren.
She originally left the northern city because she lived in a “gritty, dirty waterside suburb covered in coal dust” and she felt a need to be “closer to nature”.
The Mountains proved the perfect destination.
“I’ve loved the beauty up here,” she said. But, at 65, she felt it was time for a change.
Ms Hansen trained at Meadowbank TAFE and finished her diploma of art at Newcastle College of Advanced Education. She has happily been able to support herself through her art.
“I’ve survived my life as a working artist. I’ve only had a couple of little jobs. I’m pretty proud of that," she said.
She has painted several major murals in the Mountains, including Mountain Boulders in Katoomba Street, Reverence in Waratah Street opposite the hardware store (in collaboration with others), and Misty Blue Gum Forest at Blackheath Public School.
And she has done a lot of work for unions, including Eight Hours, an 8-metre by 8-metre triptych at Sydney Trades Hall.
She finds the physical challenges of murals, often working up ladders, liberating, whereas painting at an easel feels restrictive.
Ms Hansen has also taught art to children and people with a disability, which she hopes to continue in Newcastle.
She is holding a closing-down sale – “I’ve just got too many paintings, I’ve got to find homes for them” - with many works half price. She will open on October 6-9 and October 13-14 from 10am-5pm.
Her house, with several hand-painted ceilings, will then go on the market.
