Self Portrait with Plants, 2026, oil on canvas, 61.25 x 41 cm
Ballarat has its annual Heritage Festival in late May. Megan Finlayson and Bryan Putt get a group of us together to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday in Victorian fancy dress and during the festival we promenade around the streets of Ballarat. Our promenading group is always a big hit and we get a lot of photographers honing in. We are not an official part of the Heritage program and we are not even royalists but it is a fun occasion. I've only participated twice and the first time was with great reluctance but it led to me liking my cap so much that I wear it all the time. I do many self portraits and my liking for my cap was a good opportunity to do another one with the cap being a feature.
Debora Klein and I as Victorian-era citizens
In the Ballarat train station cafe after our promenading.
From left - Megan Finlayson as Queen Victoria, Deborah Klein, Gary Hickson,
Christine Hickson, Myself and Bryan Putt as a Victorian Railways employer.
