PROLIFIC artist Kenneth Jack used to trek out to Whittlesea from Malvern to draw inspiration for his paintings and etchings during his early period of works.
One etching he created in 1946 was of Mernda railway crossing and general store.
His son, mosaic artist David Jack, said this week: “You can see the rail crossing signs and tracks that are no longer there, and the general store that is now the post office.”
On his frequent excursions to Whittlesea, his father fell so in love with what he regarded as the breathtaking beauty of its landscape that he later bought land at Doreen.
“He loved the view of the rolling hills,” Mr Jack said.
“I remember the day he came home from Whittlesea and excitedly announced we were moving.”
He said the block of land his father chose had a view of Kinglake and as far as the Dandenongs.
Mr Jack’s father, who died in 2006, eventually built his dream house and studio on the block and lived there for 30 years. It was where he painted much of his work.
Three years after his death, his son was astonished to discover a treasure trove of about 60 paintings from his father’s early period.
His father had stashed them when he moved into the house – as “a chapter he was putting behind him”.
“They were not stacked in museum conditions, just stacked against each other, but because they were on composition boards they were in good condition,” said Mr Jack, who also lives in Doreen.
“I saw what I thought must have been a couple of old table-tennis tables. As I went through all of it, it turned out to be work after work after work.”
Kenneth Jack, who was appointed as an
MBE and an AM, was an acclaimed educationalist and a patron of the Watercolour Society of Victoria, and had thousands of works to his name.
Beaumaris Art Group member Pat Judd, who belongs to the Mosaic Association where Mr Jack is a patron, said the Jack family had a wonderful history.
She is looking forward to Mr Jack’s discussion on
his father’s rediscovered works at Beaumaris Art Group Studios at 84–98 Reserve Road this Friday at 7.30pm.
