Painting a Legacy: Old Michaelian Chris Watts on Capturing Terry Bux

For most students who passed through St Michael's gates over the last three decades, Terry Bux was more than a familiar face — he was a fixture of the daily walk to school, the man with the cheeky grin who was there for every crossing, every high five, every "good morning," for students from the littlest right through to the ones about to graduate.

Following Terry's passing, this Giving Day, the community is remembering that grin in a lasting way, captured on canvas.

Old Michaelian Chris Watts (OM 2010) has painted a vibrant portrait of Terry in tribute, created especially to support the launch of the Terry Bux Scholarship, ensuring Terry's legacy of generosity continues within the school community.

Chris works in a distinctive, minimalist style, drawing inspiration from pop art and Andy Warhol — bold blocks of colour, simplified features, striking contrast. It's a style that leaves little room to hide, which made capturing something as specific as Terry's expression a genuine challenge. "It's pretty limiting," Chris explains. "It's trying to find someone's features and stick to my simple style, so there's a bit of sketching, a bit of trial and error at the beginning."

The colour choices were just as deliberate. Chris wanted the portrait to be colourful, cheerful and upbeat — a direct reflection of Terry's own personality. "It's very colourful, it's very positive," he says of the finished piece, hoping it captures Terry in the way the school has always known him, and perhaps inspires a few students of their own artistic pursuits along the way.

That instinct for colour traces back to his own time in the Visual Communication classroom at St Michael's, under teacher Mr Cork, who Chris credits as a lasting influence. "He was always wanting to push me to be colourful — don't always stay black and white," Chris recalls. "I was encouraged to try different mediums, and that's stuck with me."

A Familiar Face, Painted by One of His Own

Chris arrived at St Michael's in 2000, growing up alongside Terry at the school crossing.

"I remember him from being a little boy up until I finished school when I was eighteen," Chris says. It's a relationship built on small, everyday kindnesses — the kind that stick with you.

Chris recalls regularly detouring to the shops on his way to school just to bring something back for Terry, a tradition he remembers fondly: "He looks after us, you know — we look after him."

That connection endured well beyond graduation. Terry attended Chris's ten-year reunion, an occasion Chris still remembers as a highlight: "I was fortunate enough to see Terry at my reunion, which was amazing."

So when the opportunity came to paint Terry for Giving Day, Chris didn't hesitate. "Giving back to the school, and being asked to paint Terry — that's easy," he says.

Doing Justice to Terry

For Chris, the stakes of the painting were personal. "As I was painting it — some late nights — I was thinking, wow, it's a bit surreal sometimes. You know someone your whole life as a kid, and then you're the one painting them," he reflects.

"Every stroke, every little detail — I want to make sure I capture it perfectly, and that it gives Terry justice for everything he gave to the school."

Since leaving St Michael's, Chris has built a career as a graphic designer, musician and painter, and was recently selected as a finalist in this year's Archibald Prize for his portrait of Mitch Brown.

His journey from the school's VisCom classroom to one of Australia's most prestigious art prizes is, in many ways, a testament to the same encouragement and mentorship that shaped his time at St Michael's — the same spirit he now hopes to pass on through this painting.

Terry's portrait will be displayed near the library, a fitting spot for students to pause each day and remember the man who greeted them at the crossing for so many years.

This Giving Day, the community is being asked to support the Terry Bux Scholarship, which will give a Year 9 student the chance to receive a St Michael's education they might not otherwise have access to.