I have chosen to paint Janelle Miles, designer of the incredibly iconic Studibaker Hawk fashion label that was synonymous with the Sydney fashion scene in the 1980s.
Janelle is shown sitting alongside two of her designs from this period, with herself wearing the iconic 'Spider' dress in its distinctive signature style, consisting of an original metallic hand-screened print, with an extravagantly sculptural silhouette involving metres of fabric cut into tiers with padded and wired hemline. Studibaker Hawk with its bold and extravagant designs, was one of Australia's most successful and enduring fashion labels with Janelle as designer.
Janelle is shown seated alongside her wooden horse sculpture, referencing her passion for horses and her current career as an equestrian apparel designer.
Reserved and elegant in her manner, design and pushing boundaries runs deep within Janelle's creative choices, even down to the mismatched quirky shoe choice chosen for the sitting.