The portrait of Blaxland Rural Fire Service firefighter Emily Rawbone is being celebrated by the Royal Australian Mint and the firies from her brigade couldn't be happier calling her the "Mona Lisa of the Mountains".
Her face features on the packaging of a new commemorative $2 coin to recognise the commitment of Australian firefighters, 12 months on from Australia's devastating bushfires.
Kellie Mar, who took the portrait is delighted.
"I was advised by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience back in May that a national tender was interested in utilising my piece to commemorate the efforts of our firefighters - how could I say no?"
Emily Rawbone's portrait featured in the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Portraits exhibition in 2018 and won the state titles in the 2018 Resilient Australia Photography Awards. It was a look of resilience recreated in a studio that Mar had first witnessed on the fireground.
"Both Emily and myself are super chuffed that her face has continued to travel far and wide in efforts to support firefighters across our nation," Ms Mar told the Gazette.
Blaxland Rural fire brigade posted that Kellie Mar's artwork of their president had "gone national".
"Emily's unwavering gaze has gone national and, ergo, we declare her the Mona Lisa of The Mountains."
For Ms Rawbone, who has been a brigade volunteer since she was 14, and is now the deputy captain and president, it was wonderful to see a female image chosen.
"It's a bit weird actually, when Kel took that photo it was for the resilience awards. We put it in and thought that would be the end of it. It's gone further, it's a bit weird, but pretty cool. I don't really know what to think [about the attention]. But there's been a lot of encouragement from the local community and obviously our families are pretty happy it's out there."
Ms Rawbone said while each fire season is always a bit different, last year was her most challenging in 27 years.
"It was the most full on I'd ever seen. We were running from August, sending crews up north. Once it kicked off in the Mountains, it became very hectic. A few families didn't get Christmas, everyone was very happy to see that season end."
With a wet summer predicted she's hoping for a quieter time and hopes her image might spur on new members - half of their current active Blaxland brigade membership of 40 is female.
Ms Mar, who works alongside her as a volunteer firefighter said their president is "a force to be reckoned with on and off the fire ground".
Speaking at the launch of the coins on October 29, Royal Australian Mint general manager, Mark Cartwright announced that $125,000 dollars from the sale of the coins will go to fire and emergency service organisations.
"Providing some financial benefit back to the firefighting community is a tangible way for us to assist these critical organisations to prepare for the summer ahead."
"We should not forget it was less than 12 months ago that large parts of Australia was on fire. Our firefighters - both career and voluntary - courageously combated the extreme conditions to keep us safe".
Designed by the mint's coin designer, Aleks Stokic, the $2 coin features two firefighters standing back-to-back with a coloured fireball in the centre.
The new $2 coin has been made available to banks for circulation across Australia and through the Royal Australian Mint's eShop or contact centre (phone 1300 652 020).
