Chance pairing drums up amazing connection for Luka and Doug

A chance pairing between a Year 11 art student and a Lifeview Emerald Glades aged care resident has made an indelible impact on both lives.

Emerald Secondary College student Luka Kill was paired with Emerald Glades resident Doug for the inaugural Reilly Art Prize competition this year.

“Because of my name, it’s a unisex name, I’d been paired with a male resident and getting a bit of an introduction regarding Doug, it got mentioned that he was a drummer, and I went ‘Oh my god, so am I!’ This is going to be great,” Luka told ABC Radio Melbourne Evenings host David Astle on Wednesday.  

It was meant to be. Despite the generational gap in age between Luka and Doug, they quickly hit it off, striking up a friendship based on a mutual appreciation of music, especially the drums and the ukulele.

“He plays quite a lot of brushes, a lot of jazz style (drums), and I also do quite a bit of that with my group, so it was pretty good to connect on that level,” Luka said.

“My dad’s (also) a luthier, so he’s a guitar maker, and over COVID I made a ukulele. I brought it in for Doug to have a play on and he fell in love with it.”

These common interests inspired Luka to portray Doug on his drumkit, which is set up at Emerald Glades in the main living room space.

Doug regularly plays the drums and entertains other residents, especially during Happy Hour on Fridays.

The portrait was judged the inaugural winner of the Reilly Art Prize at a special exhibition event, held at Lifeview Willow Wood in Cranbourne recently.

Year 11 student Luka pocketed a $5000 prize for winning, which she says will go towards travel after school finishes.

The Reilly Art Prize judges remarked: “Technically well drawn, taking on the personality of the sitter. Great rendering of subtle surfaces. Well thought-through overall composition, great connection through drums, and told a story.”  

The Art Prize judges were Peter Reilly OAM, Lifeview’s Director, who received OAM for distinguished service to the community, to the arts, in particular opera and ballet, and to charitable, education and disability services, aged care and overall financial governance, renowned artist Robert Lee, and long-time art collector and Director of Lauraine Diggins Fine Art Pty Ltd, Michael Blanche.

Students in the program and the aged care residents with whom they were paired shared stories and got to know each other across a series of visits.

The various final art pieces produced by the amazingly talented students captured thoughtful details about each resident’s passions, their lives and personality, with judges impressed with the overall quality of all submissions.

Luka visited Doug regularly.

“Whenever I could, I stopped by (Emerald Glades) just to have a chat and talk about his life. He told me a lot about himself, and we just connected on what kind of music we liked,” she said.  

“The aspect of his drums … something that he truly loved, it made him fall in love with (the artwork) quite well and he really did appreciate it showing his passion. Picturing him like that was my main goal.”

At the exhibition event, Luka said Doug didn’t leave the portrait’s side.

“He stood next to it the whole time and could not stop looking at it, which I really did appreciate,” she said.

At the completion of the program Luka agreed to gift Doug her portrait, which he will display proudly at Lifeview Emerald Glades.

And they will stay in touch beyond the competition.

“Definitely … I believe my father has to fix an instrument of his,” Luka said.

“(The Reilly Art Prize) showed me (that) despite the massive generational difference we can still connect via music or whatever other passion, and just being able to communicate on different levels was truly a wonder.”

Prior to the program Luka had expressed some doubts about her ability to draw people and had tended to previously “focus on realism of animals mostly”.

“I’d never really delved into portraits … I’ve always quite struggled with faces, and this has been an amazing challenge.”

The competition has changed her outlook. “Definitely, yeah, I’m going to definitely do more portraits,” she said.

Stay tuned for announcements regarding the 2025 Reilly Art Prize, which will be open to students in years 10, 11 and 12.

Questions about the 2025 Reilly Art Prize can be directed to marketing@lifeview.com.au