Jessica Kiely, from Sydney, NSW shares her story with Take 5’s Mitchell Jordan:
My father, Michael, led me through the outside shed he’d filled with his paintings.
“When I have an exhibition …” he began, pointing to the artworks he’d created, before stopping.
Poor Pa, I thought.
In 1994 he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, which had shocked the whole family as he was only in his forties.
But after finding both the right neurologist and medication, he’d been able to continue on as normal and so had our family – Parkinson’s just wasn’t something we spoke about.
Playing in the cover band, Musical Chairs (Image: supplied)
A husband and father to three, Pa had had a successful career running an advertising agency and had always been extremely creative.
Outside of work, he’d spent 15 years fronting the cover band, Musical Chairs, which performed at the pub in Sydney’s Double Bay each week and, when I became a mother, he developed a very close bond with my daughter, Portia.
Together, they’d written a comedy story ‘No More Grumpy Grandpas’, but Portia knew her Pa was anything but.
Even when his Parkinson’s advanced, my father decided he wanted to paint.
With Portia (Image: supplied)
“Why don’t you try classes?” my mum, Louisa, suggested to him.
By then, they’d retired to the country and he was keen to stay busy.
In art lessons, the class practised painting still life objects, like pears, but my father had other ideas for his inspiration.
Mum took him to Officeworks and he bought a canvas and paints and, soon, he began producing abstract pieces, inspired by his favourite artist, Jackson Pollock, a leading abstract expressionist.
“Why abstract?” I asked him.
“Because,” he replied. “It helps us to see the world around us in a different way. You can look at these paintings and ask ‘what if?'”
Michael began producing abstract pieces (Image: supplied)
Soon, I realised he was right.
When I observed my father’s work, I could interpret each of them in many ways.
And, once he got started, he showed no signs of slowing down … the outdoor shed was quickly filled with more and more canvasses.
But in 2019, Pa was diagnosed with kidney cancer and given just three months to live.
He’d already gone through liver cancer 15 years prior and the thought of losing him was too much for any of my family to bare, but we soon received great news when a new form of immunotherapy shrunk the cancer considerably.
As weeks turned to months, it felt like my father was a walking miracle.
Jessica with her father (Image: supplied)
His health battles had started to take a toll on him though, and as he continued speaking about wanting to share his paintings with the world, I knew what had to be done.
“Pa, I’m going to organise an exhibition for you,” I said.
By then he’d painted 660 works, so there was plenty to choose from!
I hadn’t done anything like this before, but when I was younger, Pa had always told me: “Just say yes and then work out how to do it later” so I figured this philosophy would guide me through.
And in October this year, we welcomed the public to ‘My Kids Could Do That’, my father’s first public showing, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.
There were plenty of works to choose from (Image: supplied)
Everyone loved his work and I was thrilled to see Pa had found the confidence to call himself an artist at last.
His eyes lit up with pride seeing the walls filled with work that had been confined to his shed for so long.
I’ve got three of his pieces in my home and I couldn’t be more proud of what he’s achieved.
Michael with his paintings (Image: Kirsten Cunningham Photography)
Michael, 70, says:
I’m very proud of Jessica and love her very much. Do yourself and an old man a favour: buy my art before I die.
I want to see these pieces going home with people.
And just think, as soon as I cark it, they all become limited edition.
