When 19-year-old Nick Mesics met 102-year-old Malcolm Whyte, they were strangers, brought together by a project that tasked teenagers with painting the portrait of centenarians.
Now, the portrait is finished and Nick and Malcom are mates, their 83-year age gap not an issue.
"He's a good friend," Nick said.
Intergenerational initiative The Centenarian Portrait Project by Teenagers has, over the years, connected 465 hundred-year-olds to 465 teenage artists from all walks of life from all corners of Australia.
One hundred of those portraits from around Australia - including those of nine Canberra centenarians - are about to go on show at Belconnen Arts Centre in the 100 Canberra national exhibition.
Canberra is the finale of The Centenarian Portrait Project by Teenagers which was started by Embraced, a community arts not-for-profit in Melbourne. The process of painting the portrait was less about the art, and more about bridging the generational divide - encouraging unlikely but lasting connections.
For 19-year-old Nick, who graduated from Marist College last year (the only visual arts student in his cohort), being matched with 102-year-old Emeritus Professor Whyte, a scientist and community health activist, was eye-opening.
Nick had never met a centenarian before and was surprised to find Malcolm "standing on his two feet" while welcoming him into his unit in Weston, hardly bowed or frail but full of life and curiosity.
"From the very start, Malcolm shattered expectations of what is possible of someone later in life," Nick said.
"Malcolm lives independently on the second floor of a building with no elevator. He cooks his own meals, does his own washing, operates technology and even drives a car.
"Malcolm's independence shocked, awed and humbled me, changing how I view ageing."
Nick took a photograph of Malcolm on that first visit, for his portrait, and then popped in regularly to help get to know the man and add context to his artwork. They went through Malcolm's photographs and books of his own sketches from a life that included being the founding professor of the John Curtin School of Medical Research and the first chairman of Lifeline Canberra.
"Every visit we would look through a new book, and I would learn a different aspect important to Malcolm," Nick said.
"We went through books such as camping experiences, travels, old school photos, interesting photos."
Malcolm had been invited to take part in the project not least after his 100th birthday made the news when it was held by Zoom in 2020 in the midst of COVID.
"When I first got the invitation, by email, I thought it was a scam, so I put it aside for a while," he said.
"And then I Iooked it up online and thought, 'That's a very good thing to do - the old and the young'. It sounded like a good project. So I got in touch, and away it went."
Nick found out about the project via his girlfriend Caitlin Allen, who is also in the exhibition, with her portrait of another centenarian, Jean.
He didn't want to make Malcolm "sit" for the painting so, instead, took a photograph and then made the time to get to know him.
"We talked and he kept me in his head. That's where you'll find me, in his head," Malcolm said.
"He got to know me more than most people would."
Nick's resulting artwork is an oil painting in which Malcolm is beaming, his good humour and optimism obvious.
The teenager wanted to show how this 102-year-old was "full of life".
"I made the portrait emblazoned with light and I filled the canvas with Malcolm's smile," Nick said.
"To reflect his personal history, I put the colours of the Indian flag into the lights of his eyes, representing his first eight years of life in India, and the background McGregor tartan showing his Scottish ancestry."
The nine Canberra centenarians in the Canberra 100 exhibition gathered recently with the artists and family and friends for their own special unveiling of the portraits.
Malcolm loved his. "It's very good," he said. "He's good, isn't he?"
Malcolm also gave Nick a thoughtful present.
"Malcolm likes printing stuff out so we went to Snapfish, which is where you can print things out, and it's a cup which has a photo he took of me sitting there on one side and then a photo of him on the other side and then in the middle it's got in text, 'The Centenarian Project'," Nick said, smiling.
Next year. Nick plans to move to Adelaide and go to art school and do a bachelor of creative arts. He and Malcolm will stay in touch.
"Oh yes. I'm going to follow his pathway as long as I can," Malcolm said.
But first there is the big opening night of the exhibition at Belco Arts on May 20. Malcolm will be there.
"Will I? Of course! I'll drive myself there," he said.
One of the things that informed Malcolm's portrait was a book of poetry he had written which he and Nick read through. Nick says one of Malcolm's haikus "perfectly summarises his outlook on ageing".
"Living the last lap, Grateful, resigned and content, and not giving up."
- 100 Canberra The National Exhibition, Belconnen Arts Centre, May 19-July 2.
