Proceeds from the sale of the piece will go to The Fred Hollows Foundation. Since 1992, The Foundation has restored sight to well over a million people.
Fred Hollows had a strong connection with Indigenous Australians, travelling to over 465 remote Indigenous communities and establishing the first Aboriginal controlled medical service, which still exists today.
Though she’d never boasted any formal training, Emma has long felt the profound urge to paint - a passion for the palette she and her brother, the former Hawthorn footballer Carl Peterson, shares with their ancestors of Meekathara - the “place of little water” in the mid-west region of Western Australia.
“My aunty was a painter and my great grandfather too, but I don’t paint traditionally because I wasn’t taught the traditional way... so I adapt,” Emma says.
“I enjoy painting as a hobby because I’ve found that when I force myself to paint I can’t paint as well. I often come home from work and paint until one in the morning because I find the process so relaxing... and I often look back at a painting and say ‘How did I do that?’”
Emma MacNeill with another of her pieces. Visit emmacneill.com to view other works available for purchase.
It’s worth noting that Emma, the girlfriend of Blues midfielder Mitch Robinson, has only been painting since last June. Right now she works with acrylics, but down the track seeks to explore different oil bases and discover new textures.
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