Dubbo artist Jack Randall has tackled plenty of challenges in his life-long brush with painting, but few come with the history and significant of his latest contribution.
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Randall's latest work isn't one of his own, but rather a restoration effort on a damaged piece that's been set to be put in display by the Holy Trinity Church at the Bush Brothers Museum.
"I was approached by the Brotherhood Museum to come and have a look at a canvas that had been pretty badly damaged," Mr Randall said.
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"Thankfully, it wasn't neglect, but just accidental damage."
Mr Randall said he was 'really excited' by the challenge and leapt at the chance to handle the restoration effort.
"I had to take a very cautious approach to the work," Mr Randall said.
"First, I had to clean it and remove the dust and dirt, then I had to patch the reverse with rabbit-skin glue - I haven't used that since I first started training in painting in the 70s - then I very delicately filled the gaps between the new and old canvas."
The piece, which is now coming closer and closer to completion, is provoking a lot of interest on social media, with the unusual origins and scene depicted promoting speculation about the exact scene being shown in the work, which dates back to the 1800s.
"There must be some intriguing story or parable within the work, we think it's something about death or mourning and some of the comments on Facebook have suggested that it's probably as topical now because of the current isolation," Mr Randall said.
"Some have suggested that it was created during an earlier pandemic."
The artwork, which appears to display a group of mourners beneath a fresco of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, only bears the partial signature of the original artist.
"It's a very robust object, it's lasted 130 years already, there's every reason to believe it'll last another 130 years, I'm very happy to be involved in it," Mr Randall said.
While the age adds a few technical challenges and nuances that he doesn't usually encounter, Mr Randall noted that the experience of being a part of the restoration isn't that different from seeing his own extensive artworks displayed.
"It's a great honour to be part of the cultural dialogue, and this is another aspect to it," Mr Randall said.
