Description
This painting is an ode, a celebration of one of the greatest men that I’ve ever known, and he was my beloved father. Being an avid fan of rugby league and Arthur Beetson, a legendary Aboriginal player who played for the Sydney Roosters in the 1970’s. It was an emotional but healing journey creating this for my old mate; it embodies all that was great about his character, in particular his profound love for his family.
This painting encompasses his whole family, from his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, also his brothers and sisters and my mother’s family are also present in this piece. Born in 1949 into abject poverty in Proserpine, to a father who fought in the first world war who married a young Gia woman Ethel Brady, dad would always talk of the hard times he faced and working in the sugar cane industry as you can see around the rooster is my interpretation of sugar cane that was the eventual gateway towards his freedom down the Bruce Highway where he saved what little he had and said goodbye to the old sugar mill in his blue holden.
I definitely wouldn’t be the man that I am if it weren’t for the sacrifices he’d made to enable all of his kids to stand in power, and for this I am eternally grateful to continue celebrating his ceremony until I join him in the promise lands.
Jungaji – Ol’ Rooster music video
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