Artist and Qantas pilot Kate Fraser is hoping to raise some much needed funds for drought stricken farmers in Western Queensland with a special painting.
The Melbourne-based Airbus A330 first officer has painted Qantas’s Boeing 737-800 Retro Roo in an outback setting, with prints to go on sale at an event to be held in Brisbane on August 5.
There will be 100 1.2m by 0.9m prints on paper on sale for $125 each, while a further 100 canvas prints signed by Fraser will go for $250.
The general public will also be able to purchase these prints online.
Moreover, fellow artist Peter Lewis has also donated a 2m x 6m painting of an Avro 504K – Qantas’s first aircraft – that will be auctioned off on the night.
Qantas is also donating to the cause, Fraser said, adding all proceeds would go towards paying off farmers’ debts. A Longreach Council-appointed group will be responsible for distributing the money raised.
“Originally from the country and having also worked as a mustering pilot, I have been saddened by the plight of our Western Queensland farmers in the worst drought since records began in 1912,” Fraser said.
“So I painted the Retro Roo in an outback scene to try and raise funds for the Longreach area.
“The prints of this painting really look terrific and would appeal to many plane lovers.”
Qantas took delivery of the Retro Roo, a 737 painted in the airline’s iconic ochre colour scheme of the 1970s and early 1980s, in November 2014.
Fraser is no stranger to fundraising efforts, having set a world record for the number of takeoffs and landings in a single aircraft from one airstrip with fellow pilot Phil Harris in October 1999 when she was a flying instructor in general aviation to raise money for the RSPCA.
Anyone interested in purchasing a print can contact Fraser at: [email protected]
