Local artist from Frenchs Forest and NDIS participant, Brett Ferguson, recently met and gifted entrepreneur and former Australian of the Year, Dick Smith with a portrait he’d created at the Blue Apple Arts Studio in Terrey Hills.
Dick Smith was delighted to meet Brett and be back at the site of his former Australian Geographic office. “Thank you so much Brett, I value this tremendously,” he said. “It’s emotional being back here, because I built it.”
Watch as Brett proudly meets his hero and Dick Smith reminisces about his former office:
Brett, 57, has been an artist with Blue Apple Arts Studio for over fourteen years and was inspired to create a portrait of Dick Smith because of his connection with the studio space at Terrey Hills. “This Studio used to be his office,” Brett says. “I remember when it was the Australian Geographic and now it is Blue Apple Art. And Dick Smith is a Terrey Hills local.”
Unisson Disability collaborated with Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA) for a few months to ensure their client, Brett, had the opportunity to meet and gift his local hero with the artwork. Brett’s family and support staff from both organisations were also in attendance.
Blue Apple Arts Coordinator, Heidi Ferguson explains that it was one of Brett’s personal goals to meet Dick Smith.
“Today is all about Brett,” Heidi says. “Over the years he has created many portraits of people he admires in the community.”
The Blue Apple Arts Studio is designed to help individuals explore their creativity and self-expression and has introduced Brett and more than 80 other artists to a variety of mediums including the paper pulp painting technique since it opened.
Blue Apple Arts Facilitator, Juliette Rubensohn, who has consistently worked with Brett since he joined the studio, adds:“While there are several different techniques that can be used to create a paper pulp painting, Brett’s portrait of Dick Smith adopts a similar technique that was made famous by the British artist David Hockney with his Paper Pool series, some of which are in the possession of the National Gallery in Canberra.”
