“It had been there in the back of my head for about 20 years,” Christine said, recalling the moment she first drove past Newstead, a sheep station near Inverell, and realised it was the site of Roberts’ iconic painting The Golden Fleece.

Attending a lecture in Lismore on changing Australian representation, Christine was indignant when her lecturer suggested that most people in the room had never even seen a sheep. “I remember saying ‘Speak for yourself!’” she said. However, looking around the large lecture theatre, Christine realised how fair the statement was.

“The centre of the world has moved away from sheep and sheering and agriculture and a rural lifestyle, to the point that eventually it will become invisible,” she said.

The experience inspired Christine to bring rural life into the limelight, and she has spent the past 30 years painting sheds. 

Christine revisited Newstead in 2014, this time to paint her own work. “It was so weird. Sitting in that chair and going ‘My God, I’m here!’. It seemed bigger than me,” she said. “The more I drew it, the more it changed my view of his painting.”

The exhibition has three sections. The first is a series of 20 paintings of the Newstead shed, as it looks today. Another 25 paintings are of sheds from the New England region and Queensland.

Christine is most excited about the third body work, which tracks how much Newstead has changed in 120 years. A drawing scratched on perspex in front of a postcard of The Golden Fleece, the piece encourages visitors to look through Christine’s work to see Tom’s.

Shadowing Tom will officially open at 5pm on Saturday, $10 admission. It will conclude with a special Sunday opening on March 26 from 9am-2pm. 

Christine will also host a watercolour workshop at the gallery on Friday, March 24. For more details, contact Christine on 0407 170 471 or cp@christineporter.com.au.