Aboriginal artist's work on Qantas 737 ABORIGINAL artist Paddy Bedford would often tell his daughter his work was going to end up on a plane. "'I'm going to have a painting on a jet'," he'd tell Kathleen Watson. She dismissed the idea at the time but is proud that the late West Australian artist's wish has come true. Bedford's 2005 painting Mendoowoorrji - Medicine Pocket inspired the livery for Qantas's new 737-800 aircraft, the fourth in its indigenous art series. Watson, in Seattle with Gija elders from the East Kimberley for a ceremony to bless the plane, said it was an honour to share the Aboriginal culture in this way. "I'm proud to keep his legacy alive and sharing and promoting Aboriginal art through the world, Australia, Western Australia and the Kimberley," she said. Medicine Pocket, which has been gifted to the National Gallery of Australia by Bedford's estate, depicts part of the artist's mother's country. It's taken 18 months to get the aircraft ready with Boeing painters for the first time using brush and other hand painting techniques to translate the work's shading and textural elements on to the fuselage. The white areas feature a lot of grey shading and the iconic Qantas tail has been included in the design, albeit with its trademark red changed to match the painting's earthy tones. National Gallery Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art senior adviser Franchesca Cubillo said the Australian designers Balarinji and Boeing's painters had managed to capture the essence of the original painting. "The team of painters here have actually worked closely with Balarinji to ensure that lovely painterly effect, the texture, even the gradient of the colours that are in the original painting have been replicated," she said. Mendoowoorrji will arrive in Sydney on Monday before joining the Qantas domestic network from mid-November, flying east-west and intra-WA routes. William Mora Galleries director William Mora said Bedford would have been incredibly proud to see the spirit and story of his painting on a plane. I think he'd want to be the first person to leave it when it landed and stand at the top of the stairs and say 'not only am I the number one painter, I have my own plane'. The writer travelled to Seattle as a guest of Qantas and Boeing.