There is a particular alchemy that occurs when an artist is placed under the glare of studio lights, handed a blank surface, and given four hours to distil another human being into marks. For five Northern Beaches artists – Ben Brown, Jaimee Paul, Jimi May, India Jablonski, and Blair Isobelle – ABC’s inaugural Portrait Artist of the Year (PAOTY) became both a crucible and a catalyst.
Each arrived with their own practice, rhythm and rituals, only to discover that the compressed intensity of the show would demand something far more instinctive.
For veteran illustrator Ben Brown, preparation became its own medium. Accustomed to digital tools, Brown returned to analogue methods with the discipline of an athlete: gridding, timing, and rehearsing until speed and accuracy fused. When his sitter, broadcaster Myf Warhurst, took her place, he already had a strategy, yet what shaped the portrait was connection.
“Although she’s considered bubbly, I wanted to bring out a thoughtful side,” says Ben. Drawing on the aesthetic of Interview Magazine covers, Brown leaned into bold colour and graphic clarity, capturing not just a likeness but an era-spanning homage. Despite the national exposure, he remains disarmingly grounded. “Everyone will have forgotten in six months,” he laughs. “You’re only as good as your last piece.”
Jaimee Paul, known for her soulful animal portraits, approached the challenge as both technical experiment and artistic expansion. Months of practice, and sessions at Brookvale’s Underground Sketch Club, helped her bridge the leap from fur and feathers to all-things-human. Her sitter, Tsehay Hawkins (the Yellow Wiggle), radiated warmth and Jaimee found in the dancer’s yellow costume the perfect permission to break from her usual monochrome.
“I loved painting her eyes and hair. She’s so striking,” Jaimee reflects. What stayed with her wasn’t the pressure but the ripple effect: families watching together, students suddenly seeing art as attainable, conversations blossoming in her co-working studio. “It’s been a great thing for people who find gallery spaces intimidating,” she says.
In the same heat, fellow Northern Beaches artist Jimi May produced a striking portrait of Ken Done AM, recalling his early days painting alongside Jaimee and Blair at Art Focus Gallery & Studio in Brookvale circa 2007/8.
Where Jimi, Jaimee and Ben arrived sharpened by preparation, India Jablonski leaned into unlearning. A meticulous pastel artist renowned for detailed animal work, she intentionally adopted a looser, more expressive hand. The time limit protected her from overworking; the presence of gardener and presenter Costa Georgiadis encouraged sincerity.
“Costa has such a warm presence,” she recalls. Their quiet conversation on set – about embroidered trousers, landscape and connection to nature – anchored the portrait in earthiness. “Artists need peers,” she reflects. “The show created a community.”
Finally, Blair Isobelle, an oil painter who usually works in slow, layered depth, pushed herself toward alla prima immediacy. Her sitter, comedian Matt Okine, surprised her with emotional candour. Beneath the humour she sensed tenderness, particularly when he spoke of his late mother. Blair chose to paint that interiority and the moment he recognised himself in the portrait became her true prize. She hopes the show will open doors not only for her emerging career but also for broader representation: “I want to highlight artists with disabilities.”
Together, these five Northern Beaches artists illustrate that portraiture, whether created in solitude or in front of cameras, remains at its core, an act of human exchange. PAOTY simply made that exchange visible.
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