expressions in her drawings. Sages completed a portrait of Emily, Emily Kame Kngwarreye with Lily in 1993, later becoming the first piece collected by the National Portrait Gallery in 1998. Alongside Sages large scale portrait painting of Knwarreye, the National Gallery Museum collected a series of sketches recording the casual conversations between the two artists. The sketches reflected the relationship between Sages and Kngwarreye, annotated with sentences Kngwarreye spoke at the time, such as “I like your hat” or "My back hurts, does yours?" Helen Garner Sages started to seek opportunity to paint Garner since 1996, after reading Garner’s book True Stories. Garner has declined other opportunities to be painted in the past, as she said, “It's bad enough having your photo taken, …, but my portrait – that's too much to bear. You have to sit in the room with the person for a long time and it needs to be somebody that you can get on with and maybe even like!” In 2002, the two first met upon Sages’ request in Melbourne, where the writer reside; Garner later visited Sages house in Sydney, where Sages drew her. Garner described their time as “very pleasurable,” and Sages returns the feeling, saying they had “a wonderful encounter.” During their visits, Sages completed 37 drawings of the writer, which were the source of elements for the portrait she later completed. Art historian Sarah Engledow commented on the drawings now under the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, “though they are 'preparatory' works these paintings are good examples of Sages' skill at capturing the light of varying times of day.” Sages produced the portrait of Helen Garner, True Stories – Helen Garner in 2003, and won the Archibald Prize finalist the same year. The painting was completed with her usual medium, wax-based surface and rubbed-in pigments. Garner said “I immediately felt that it was me,” as she first saw her portrait at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She also appreciates Sages portraying her in less flattering but more realistic aesthetic. “When I looked at the painting I just felt that she had seen me in some quite deep way'.” Sages was approached by Portrait Gallery Director Andrew Sayers, who was interested in including the work in his gallery collection; Sage then offered the portrait as a donation to the gallery. Kate Grenville Sages painted Grenville's portrait Kate in 2012 and the piece