About My New Work – East Fremantle Sparkles

East Fremantle Sparkles by Ken Rasmussen

This painting – East Fremantle Sparkles – is a special effort on my part.

The idea for the work came to me when East Fremantle Council asked about contributing a work for their George Street Festival.

It has been launched out into the world as ‘East Fremantle Sparkles’. But I also considered calling it “Growing up in East Fremantle”. Or “East Fremantle Childhood.

The painting is meant to evoke the way the landscape enlarges when you grow up.

I walked my children up George St from Bedford St to East Fremantle Primary School for 12 years. I’ve watched them grow up, into, and past the boundaries of East Fremantle, a very wonderful and loving place.

I hope that a child and an adult will look at this painting and think of how their world expanded and grew.

They’ll recognise the landmarks and think of how they gradually became connected together in their world map.

Maybe until they grew up and went beyond the boundaries.

The red dog of dingo flour is there, as something on their horizon. Something they’d notice, but I’ve depicted it as a dog because they wouldn’t know it was a dingo.

I’m also hoping that the red roof to the rear of the dingo may remind someone of the mambo dog. Even though today’s child wouldn’t know that.

The painting took 3 weeks and has been the most difficult one I’ve done so far.

Labour. Of Love.