If ever an entire year should be captured in a single artwork, 2020 would have to be it.
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Newcastle artist Birgitte Hansen is creating this exact artwork. Fittingly, it's titled 2020.
"It sums up the year in one painting," Birgitte said.
She designed seven panels on her computer that she's now painting on a 2.4-metre wide canvas. Beneath the panels will be portraits of various faces of people who've been in the news.
The final design includes images of bushfire, drought, the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement.
On one panel, the faces of a doctor and a nurse - a man and a woman - are merged to make one face. Another panel features a child pulling a face amid fireworks that morph into viruses.
There's a woman holding a picture frame amid drawings of a cruise ship and plane.
Another panel features a boy from the 1950s hung up on a clothesline with pegs.
Beneath this is a painting of a Newcastle Herald photo of a girl in an unemployment queue, due to the pandemic.
Also in this panel is the face of George Floyd - whose dreadful death sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. There's also the part head and wagging finger of Donald Trump - as if the artist had to acknowledge the US president but would rather have not.
Birgitte is known for her murals and banners of life in the Hunter. She created the iconic mural of the Newcastle earthquake, which the Herald commissioned to mark the first anniversary in 1990.
"I've got my painting mojo back. It's been two or three years. I've been struggling with it. And all of a sudden, it's back," she said.
She had felt somewhat disconnected from society, which she partly attributed to her age and "not being part of what everyone else is doing".
This year, she joined Facebook. Witnessing the misinformation on social media pressed home to her the importance of fact-checking and credible sources of news.
"I read four to five newspapers a day. That's what keeps me happy," she said.
Glen Rides Again
We've been following the love life of Glen Fredericks, of Adamstown Heights, as he explores the dating site Tinder.
Glen has been enjoying the single life, but now he's looking to "rev things up" a bit.
"I'm looking for someone to give me one lesson on their motor scooter," Glen posted on his Tinder profile.
He has a learners permit and a trike. But to get his P-plates, he needs to do a test on two wheels.
"I haven't been able to practice on a two-wheeler," he said.
He's proposed a date in which he rides a date's scooter for a few hours. In return, his date can ride his 2020 model 600cc Can-Am Ryker trike.
Afterwards he'll take the scooter owner to dinner.
Ride on, Glen.
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