AN AMBITION to "relove" items of history has seen Newcastle's Deirdre Bean take home this year's Gallipoli Art Prize.
"It has been my art practice in recent years to rediscover items such as these: precious, meaningful items that are locked away and in danger of being forgotten,' Ms Bean said in her artist's statement.
"This sword now has a new alternative life. The stories it evokes are retold, conversations are had, and information shared.
"We remember, lest we forget."
The artist's oil painting, Along the Ride to Damascus, depicts a sword, scabbard, and "swagger stick" - loaned from a private collection.
Items pictured were among those issued to the Australian Light Horse as they advanced toward Damascus following the famous Battle of Beersheba.
Light Horse campaigns contributed to the Allied victory in World War I.
Ms Bean said the leather-bound swagger stick was labelled "whip" when it was originally loaned to her, but she soon discovered it was a small accessory picked up by soldiers while in Paris.
Swagger sticks were a part of non-commissioned officers' non-fighting uniform and added gravitas to their outfits.
"The non-commissioned officers tucked it under their arm, and they had a fancy uniform with a monocle," Ms Bean said.
"They used to walk around with swagger sticks and it was like part of their uniform, but not part of their fighting uniform, sort of like for the officers to walk around looking important."
Ms Bean is a "revered" botanical artist with a PhD in Natural History Illustration from the University of Newcastle.
With works in the Royal Botanical Gardens in London and Sydney, her accolades include one Gold and two Silver-Gilt Medals from the Royal Horticultural Society.
Military weapons and paraphernalia are littered with markings and personal histories, Ms Bean said.
"My ambition is to 'relove' them by bringing them briefly into the light and, with careful handling, reimagine them in paint on canvas."
Ms Bean's first artist trip to Gallipoli was in 2013 which prompted her to begin painting weaponry and other battlefield relics. In 2017 she was one of twelve artists included in an art expedition to the WWI battlefields in France and Belgium, to explore Australian history and memories of the Great War.
This year Ms Bean secured $20,000 in prize money, two years after her entry into the Gallipoli Art Prize, Major Smith's Petrichor, saw the judges grant her a high commendation.
The 2022 Gallipoli Art Prize will be on exhibition at The Cleland Bond Store in Sydney from April 21 to May 8 and will also feature the highly commended work of Geoff Harvey titled Lest We Forget.
