Prudence Flint Double

The subject of Prudence Flint’s portrait, Saskia Beudel, is the author of two books of non-fiction, a novel and many essays. She writes about walking, the environment, families and art. Her books have been shortlisted for many awards.

‘Saskia is my most accomplished and courageous long-standing friend and has always lived a driven, independent life. She is striking in her physicality and her quiet internal grace. Her writing is affecting and powerful in a steely, pared-back way,’ says Flint.

‘I first met Saskia in the early 1990s when she was painting large, visceral landscapes; but writing became her true interest. I have watched her lunge into freezing dams, stride up mountains, drive off fully pregnant for long hours across the state, and navigate impossible social situations.’

Born in 1962, Melbourne-based Flint won the 2016 Len Fox Painting Award, the 2010 Portia Geach Memorial Award and the 2004 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. This is her sixth time as a finalist in the Archibald Prize. Flint studied Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts and completed her Masters in Fine Art at Monash University. She currently teaches drawing at the VCA and painting at Monash University.