Portrait captures brave story

When Warragul farmer Joe Meggetto bravely told his story for a mental health calendar, he never dreamed it would lead to a portrait sitting for the prestigious Archibald Prize.
His dairy farm was the perfect backdrop last week when New South Wales artist Kerrie Anne Rawson began to bring Joe's story to life, and her dream to reality.
The distinguished Archibald Prize for portraiture was never anything Kerrie Anne had considered, until she saw Joe's courageous story of mental health in the news three years ago.
"I have a farm background and I had a connection with Joe's story.
"Joe has a really good story to tell and the portrait is all about getting Joe's message across. He is the white flag, he can be that symbol of mental health. Males have a tendency to go into their shell and not speak up," she said.
COVID restrictions have delayed the portrait sitting but last week, with the rolling hills of West Gippsland the backdrop to his dairy, Joe posed, chatted and went about his daily routine as Kerrie Anne began to bring her canvas to life.
"You have to get to know your subject, get to know their background. I really love to love my subject and then once I have it on the board I will run with it and bring it to life.
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Kerrie Anne professes to be a "self taught, unknown artist" but she is prepared to put her talent on the line to create an Archibald worthy portrait.
Her preferred medium is working with charcoal. But a criteria of the Archibald is to include paint, so the two mediums will be combined for her final submission.
"I don't have a style, I just want to bring it all together. I took a lot of photos of Joe and his property to get that sense of person.
"It's portraiture but I want to connect it to the dairy farm and I want to show the healing and the reason behind it because the story is so important.
Art is Kerrie Anne's hobby and her "escape."
"My art has really helped me at times. I've always turned to art, it's helped me through life when my husband suffered mental health and after I had an accident in 2006.
Kerrie Anne escaped death on that day but suffered traumatic amnesia and was diagnosed with depression after she physically and emotionally "hit a brick wall" in the aftermath of the crash.
Because of her own depression, seeing Joe's courage to speak about his mental health journey inspired Kerrie Anne to connect with the story through art.
Joe's story was thrown in the limelight when he agreed to feature in a Gippsland Jersey initiative that focussed on the mental health stories of Gippsland dairy farmers.
"I never thought that calendar would go this far," Joe said. "It is great to be the focus and hopefully we can get that message out there because that's what it's all about...it's all about speaking up."
Public speaking and being an industry "face" of mental health has helped Joe in his healing.
"I don't think I would be as mentally healthy as I am now if it wasn't for what Gippsland Jersey initiated with that calendar. As long as we can save a life or two, it's all a benefit," Joe said.
With the 2022 entries closing next week, Kerrie Anne's portrait will be entered in the 2023 Archibald Prize.
The portrait is in its early stages and Kerrie Anne admits the canvas will be propped on an easel in the corner of her home where she will work on it for months, being careful not to "overwork" it.
Of the 250 entries each year, about 50 are selected for final judging. Kerrie Anne aims to be in the final 50 so the story behind her portrait is told.
"Just entering it is exciting and if one person reads the story behind it then the message is out there. If the Archibald is the biggest way to get the message out then so be it," Kerrie Anne said.