A STOCKLEIGH artist has secured the portrait job of a lifetime, and will use it to raise thousands of dollars for environmental conservation causes.
Carla Benzie will paint environment icon and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, after being given personal permission by the subject.
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She hopes to then auction the piece off and raise thousands of dollars for a cause close to her heart.
Benzie wrote to Mr Attenborough, asking him to sit for a portrait.
She was stunned when the 94-year-old replied with a handwritten letter, giving her the go-ahead to paint him, but declining to sit personally.
Instead, he suggested she use a photograph sourced from online for the work, but Benzie said she would still be proud to undertake the project.
"I like to think he is everyone's dream grandfather," she said.
It will be a huge undertaking. Benzie will spend more than 500 hours painting the piece. It incorporates landscapes and images of animals from work by Scottish photographer and cinematographer Doug Allen.
His book Freeze Frame: A Wildlife Camerman's Adventures on Ice will provide the inspiration.
Mr Allen has won awards for his work with Mr Attenborough, who was named among the 100 greatest Britons in a 2002 poll.
The project requires a custom piece of plywood from Europe and 400 pencils from Melbourne.
"I'm hoping I have got enough colours," she said.
"Or I might have to change the tone."
Benzie said she was itching to get started on what would be a more difficult undertaking than a usual subject.
"Usually I would sit down and work out what I was going to do, photograph the subject, but it's hard this time," she said.
"I'm super excited to get started. I have already laid my paper on out on Sunday to start planning.
Local filmmaker Luke Dunning has come on board to document every stage of the painting.
Benzie said 80 per cent of the proceeds would be donated to charity.
Benzie was a finalist in the 2020 Brisbane Portrait Prize with A Man and His Shed.
She also works with animal rescue organisations, with proceeds from the sales of her work raising money for animal conservation.
To follow the painting from start to finish, go to Benzie's Instagram page - @carlabenzieartist.
Benzie said she aimed to organise a UK auction of the completed piece, to raise money for charity.
Eighty per cent of the money will go to charity.
She said she put a high value on the work.
"[A value of] anything upwards of $150,000 would be amazing, and I wouldn't let it sell for any less with the amount of work that will go into it," she said.
"It would bring me so much joy to hand over a giant amount to a charity, going to a cause I strongly believe in."
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