Birrell's Portraits

Dr Mike Birrell has been a prominent GP in Point Lonsdale for many years, but he is also an accomplished portrait artist. His story is an interesting one and the museum has his cards on display and for sale.

"At the age of 38, I traveled with my family on a medical exchange to Wales. The climatic factors shifted the focus from sporting to more sedentary pursuits.
 
I became fascinated with the characters in my village as well as the village itself and the way time had sculpted the streetscape. A toothy grin, ragged beard, gnarly nose or a furrowed frown was as eye catching as a rusty hinge, crumbling wall or slanting lintel. I started drawing in black pen, followed by pencil and finally pastel and found it fun trying to document personality. On returning to Australia my eyes were open to the many characters in our own environs.
 
I have produced many portraits over the last nine years and quite often painted posthumous ones.  Looking after people and their attendants in palliative care takes you right into the heart of some wonderful families. To be able to provide a portrait of the patient and present it to the loved ones is quite fulfilling. The initial viewing of the picture can be very emotional for all, but to see it being clutched by the carer, you know that it is a special gift and that it will help with their grieving.

I have received several letters describing the journey people have gone through in their loss. The portrait is somewhere between a photo and the real person and frequently families tell me how they talk to the picture as if the person was still alive!

There are true-life stories behind most of the characters I have painted and a fair percentage of them I have wanted to do myself. Having enjoyed jigsaw puzzles I have found this a similar experience. I have no formal training and just move lines around on the paper until the person and personality are looking back at me. I then back away from my easel and chuckle to myself, amazed with what I have achieved."
 
There are 10 of Birrell's pencil portraits hanging in the Maritime Museum at Queenscliff and almost 25 Pastel portraits hanging at Suma Park Winery.

Harry Mouchmore
​Harry has fished out of Queenscliff for almost 60 years and is revered among the local mariners. He is very knowledgeable about the ocean around the Heads having gained most of his information from a lead shot line, well before the advent of sonar. Regrettably my pencil portrait of Harry at the Maritime Museum was done with out him wearing his fishing hat. It does however look like a bust and, I feel shows his Spanish roots with his rich ebony complexion and obsidian eyes.
 

Mansley  “Popeye” Ferrier
​Frank and Lewis were original pencil portraits but brother Mansley ( or Popeye as he was known) was painted a couple of years ago. Like all Ferriers he was a solo philosopher due to the endless hours on the water without company.

Bill Huggins
​Bill served in the navy during World War II and subsequently became the  light house keeper at Point Lonsdale. He is very involved in the maritime museum and conducts tours of the Lonsdale Light.
His bushy sideburns, fisherman’s cap and heavy coat and scarf combine to produce a Dickensian quality in this portrait.

​Joyce Stewart
​Joyce’s family were landholders at  Marcus Hill in the 1850s. She was born on the farm but the family moved to Point Lonsdale when she two years old and ran a guest house. Joyce and her husband Mac helped shape early Lonsdale being very involved in local sporting clubs, church and politics

When Joyce  comes to the surgery she is always elegantly dressed  and provides a serene interlude in my busy days. I enjoy our chats about the early history of the Queenscliffe Borough  and it’s inhabitants.

​Lew Ferrier
​Lew is known locally as the barefoot fisherman. He is one of life’s treasures and fifteen minutes spent with him  is quite sublime. He comes from a family of ten children , and being one of the younger ones was often bereft of footwear . I have never heard Lew complain about anything and he always has a positive word to put in on worldly issues.
 
As  fisherman are  solo practitioners of their craft they spend a lot of hours in his own minds. This produces some quite unique and refreshing views on life and some home spun philosophies.

Lewis’ feet have attracted a lot of attention so I felt that they needed to be recorded for posterity. I look after Lewis and I would recognise these feet anywhere on this planet.
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​Ian (Sam) Culliver​
Sam is full of stories of the Queenscliff fishing fleet and began fishing at a very young age. Most of the old fisherman started at 12or 13 as deckhands and worked their way  up to owning their own boat.
 
Sam is  a tough old fisherman. After talking to him I realised that when out in a boat that fisherman fish against each other.
 

​Victor Phipps​​
Vic was born in Queenscliff and died there after a very adventurous 101 years. He was a blacksmith and enjoyed his involvement with horses all his life.
​He still had a wicked sense of humour and in his last year I remember walking in to see him at his nursing home and having him pipe up, “Would you like some wood cut Doc?”
I said I had a few old trees at home and some logs that needed cutting up. I had a chat with him and went on to examine him and fifteen minutes later went to leave.
As I left he called out cheekily.” Do you want the wood one or two foot lengths!!”
 
The two pastel portraits were done for his 100th birthday. I did the wide eyed one first but felt combining it with the laughing pose captured  both sides of his personality.

I took the photographs to paint from on a day when it was about 4O degrees Celsius in the shade. Vic was wearing his three flannel shirts as per usual and I pondered the wisdom of this amount of insulation but quickly became unconcerned when I remembered that he was approaching 100 and had been doing this all his life!!!

​These cards and other publications are available for purchase at the museum.