WORKING off printouts and an old calendar, Barnawatha artist Tracy Hancock has produced a giant version of the 1890 painting Shearing the Rams which will be unveiled at Corowa on Saturday.
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Measuring 3.6 metres by 2.5 metres the mural is double the size of Tom Roberts' original work which depicts a scene at Brocklesby station north of Corowa.
Hancock, who has never seen Shearing the Rams in person, painted her version across three panels and over four months.
"I could have worked on it for another two years to get all the detail he's got in the painting, but I've done my impression of it," Hancock said.
The huge work was inspired by 130th anniversary celebrations for the painting scheduled for this weekend.
Originally an array of activities were planned, but COVID has limited them to the mural unveiling and a golf day.
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Organiser Lesley New said the big Shearing the Rams will be launched at 2pm on Saturday in an area at the rear of the Corowa Federation Museum which is visible from the Sanger Street retail strip.
"We were very excited to have something outside the musuem so everyone could feel it belongs to them," Mrs New said.
Hancock's husband Colin saw the accompanying photo and said to her that it was the painting she had been working on in smaller form.
After contacting the organisers it was decided to reproduce it in a larger size for the celebration.
Mrs New said a bequest from the late former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer had covered the cost of the painting and a new Shearing the Rams display set for the museum.
The display will feature a banner and different representations of the artwork, such as a jigsaw and tapestry, as well as the history surrounding the icon.
Mrs New said it was hoped that could be launched with an event sometime in 2021, pending COVID restrictions.
Saturday's event is invitation-only, but there will be a PA system set-up so people can follow proceedings from Sanger Street.
The Federation Museum has been closed since March because of the virus and there is no date set for its reopening.
