Juliette Kent lived in Kyabram until she was 16, when she was accepted into a graphic design program at Shepparton North.
She went on to become a published illustrator based in Melbourne but still considers herself a Kyabram girl.
One day, when dropping off her commissioned art at the post office ready to be shipped off, a woman at her local post office, Katie, handed her a black and white photo of her great uncle, a war veteran, and asked if she could recreate it by illustration.
Her own grandfather, Arthur Edwin Smith, served in Egypt during World War II.
She agreed to the commission because she thought it would be an excellent tribute to all veterans.
“When I saw the look on the man’s face in the photo, he looked like such a lovely man,” Mrs Kent said.
“I saw it and thought that I’d really love to do a painting of that. I thought it was a good challenge for me to be able to paint.’’
The portrait was done with watercolours and took more than 15 hours to create.
Mrs Kent said that Katie was delighted by her recreation and gave her great uncle’s wife the portrait as a surprise gift.
“I’m really grateful for what the soldiers did, and it’s really important not to forget that – I just want to say thank you,” she said.
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