Blackheath artist Mathew Lynn first painted Tara Moss in 2013. That portrait saw him take out the 2013 Packing Room Prize and become a finalist for the Archibald Prize for the 13th time.
On February 11 Lynn will again study Ms Moss, this time as he leads a life drawing workshop, and he knows he will portray her differently.
“She's a different person to me now in a way,” Lynn says of Ms Moss who he regards as a friend, and has gotten to know much better since the 2013 sitting.
“What really attracted me to painting her as a subject is she’s gone through so many phases in her life as a model and writing and now a strong public persona. She does get a bit of criticism and jealousy. For her it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“You need to be a strong person to do that and put up with the blockages and what happens in the media and a lot of cyber bullying. She’s also very fragile. She’s a good example of someone who’s decided to make themselves bigger and bigger and despite being fragile, just going for it.”
Ms Moss isn’t the only one “just going for it”. Lynn plans to submit a portrait for the Archibald Prize again this year, but remained tight-lipped on his subject.
“I tend to do mine at the last minute,” he said.
“I can’t tell you who, it would be a massive jinx.
“I paint them so that you’re drawn to the face and the second thing is the body language. The background is minimal. There is a rhythm in the way I paint them.”
Lynn isn’t solely a portrait painter, he has a seascapes exhibition, Shimmer, showing at the Christopher Day Gallery in Paddington from February 14.
“We need to reinvent ourselves, not necessarily do the same thing again and again,” the 53-year-old said.
And that’s something Ms Moss has done successfully over the years.
A model, author, human rights advocate and now TV presenter, as part of National Anti-Bullying Day in March, Cyberhate with Tara Moss will air on the ABC. She is also an ambassador for UNICEF, with money raised from the life drawing workshop to be donated to the children’s charity.
Lynn said over the course of the workshop Ms Moss will model a variety of outfits.
“Tara’s combination of physical beauty and the shapes of the clothes and texture should be quite interesting [for drawing],” he said.
The workshop will be held -n the grounds of historic house “Nalawa” in Blackheath from 9.30am–4.30pm on February 11.
Tickets at $150 each are limited to 15 places and are available by contacting Vince Day at Day Fine Art on 0404 930 120.
