Kay Cottee AO (b. 1954) became the first woman in history to complete a solo, non-stop and unassisted voyage around the world. On 29 November 1987, Cottee set off from Sydney Harbour in her boat Blackmores First Lady. During the 189 days of the 23,000 nautical mile voyage, she faced icebergs, gale force winds and whales as well as homesickness and loneliness. Washed overboard off the southern coast of Africa, she was saved by two safety lines. Her only contact with the outside world was by radio, and while the demands of the journey often left her with little time to sleep, she staved off boredom by knitting and writing poetry. In the course of the voyage she broke seven records including the longest time spent alone by a woman at sea, the greatest non-stop distance travelled at sea by a lone woman, and the fastest time and speed for a solo circumnavigation by a woman. Sailing back into Sydney on 5 June 1988, she was greeted by a crowd of 100,000 people. The voyage raised more than $1 million for Reverend Ted Noffs' Life Education Centres.
In this portrait, artist Pamela Thalben-Ball captured Cottee's famous resilience and positive character, which allowed her to complete her treacherous solo journey.
Gift of the artist 1999
This oil on canvas portrait of sailor and author Kay Cottee by Pamela Thalben-Ball created in 1993 measures 1.3 metres high by 1.4 metres wide. Its frame has an inner border of pale gold fabric surrounded by pale gold-painted wood in curved steps.
In the centre of the painting Kay stands on a yacht out at sea. The image is cropped close to focus on Kay, with only a section of a sail cloth, the sky and sea above and behind her, and the yacht’s wooden cabin entry behind her legs.
The open ocean fills the background with a distant horizon line where the deeper blue ocean meets the paler blue sky. Dry painterly brush marks fill the sky with wispy lines of white clouds. Lighter tones of blue capped in white depict waves breaking in the water giving a sense of motion and energy to the seascape.
Kay stands in a relaxed pose against the entry to the yacht’s cabin, facing towards us. The main sail cloth is raised and shown behind her, cropped by the edge of the painting. Many lengths of taut rope are attached from the yacht up to the main sail in vertical lines with other lengths of rope coiled-up ready for use around her. The yacht is white with wooden accents and has small panels with buttons on the side facing us.
She faces directly ahead with her head tilted slightly to the left. Her short curly hair is a deep russet red with golden highlights. Her curly fringe is blown around by the wind. The rest of her hair has been pulled back behind her ears. Her oval-shaped face is in shadow with the harsh bright sun shining down from behind her right shoulder. Her skin is a warm pale bronze with brush marks depicting pink and pale yellow highlights. She has strong dark eyebrows and deeply hooded brown eyes. Her cheeks are sun-kissed, her nose is straight and her full lips are in a relaxed open smile.
Kay’s arms are held out away from her body with her hands resting against either side of the entry to the cabin for balance. She wears an oversized cream cotton shirt, the hem gathered and tied off in a knot hanging against her left hip. The sleeves are loose, three-quarter length, revealing deeply tanned arms and a black watch on her left wrist. She wears fitted light blue trousers echoing the blues of the sea and sky in the background. The portrait ends just above her knees and the artist’s signature is painted in the bottom right corner.
Audio description written by Alana Sivell and read by Carolyn Eccles
Pamela Thalben-Ball (2 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.
The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.
