This is a portrait of John Parkinson,the owner of the ‘Priscilla’ bus that was used in the iconic Australian movie ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’.  

A friend of his commissioned me to do the painting. John had regenerated pastoral land into bush and wetlands close to Wilson’s Promontory in rural Victoria. He used the bus as his ‘home away from home’ over the years he worked on the site. Its permanently parked there, though he does take it out on road trips lined with ‘beeps’  from delighted cars on the highway.

I visited John and took several photos, made some sketches of him, and got a tour of the impressive wetlands he had created. We talked about how I was going to do the portrait, his experience living on the bus, how he came to own it and stories about how he transformed the land  so local bird life and vegetation could flourish once again.

I enjoyed painting a landscape and incorporating objects with symbolic and historical significance into the composition. The ‘Prom’ as the locals refer to it can be seen in the distance. The heroic pose and the sky with what could be thought clouds of imagination above his head, seemed fitting for this passionate character. Two trees, one bare the other healthy representing growth and change are also placed in the background. The bus sits almost on his shoulder as if it is a parrot, and he a pirate looking to new horizons.

John’s painting now hangs proudly in his home.