Greg Somers Self-portrait with the picture of dory in grey

Greg Somers’ self-portrait is a celebration of his contentment at being the age he is – an increasingly, but happily, grizzled 60-year-old. It also acknowledges the influence of the great artists.

With a title that reveals his love for plays on words, the picture of the dory represents accepting what you are rather than yearning after eternal youth as in Oscar Wilde’s classic novel The picture of Dorian Gray.

‘For some time, I have changed my thinking to giving thanks for the life I’ve had rather than always wanting something,’ says Somers.

When Somers was young, he was drawn to the surrealists. The balanced composition is as simple as possible and the colour palette limited. His colour sense was developed, he says, ‘using colour harmony based on music theory’.

The motto on his tie is saying that the great artists of the world will be around for a long time to come. Frida Kahlo is there as well as two paintings by Delacroix: Liberty leading the people and Attila tramples Italy and the arts.

Somers was born in Sydney in 1950, and trained at the Julian Ashton Art School. Now based on the central coast of NSW, he is a representational painter, specialising in portraiture and figurative landscapes. He has had four solo exhibitions, has exhibited in several group shows, and has also illustrated many educational children’s books.