Best in Show
Winner
“Afternoon Tea in the Garden”
by Sheng Zhang
This painting stood out the moment I saw it. The confident and vigorous application of the oil paint, beautiful handling of the dappled light over the table and objects, melting into the light, then surrounded by contrasting foliage bringing the composition together. Not only a masterful handling of the medium but a very beautiful painting.
Best Still Life / Flora & Fauna
Winner
“Plums”
by Bernadette Smith
A beautifully handled painting, both the composition and the use of colour. The plums have magical bloom that is hard to capture but Bernadette has been successful here and she created a very beautiful large watercolour painting.
Highly Commended
“Old Fashioned Roses”
by Fiona Curie
A beautiful almost dreamy atmosphere, limited pallet and bold brush strokes that make for a simple slice of beauty.
Highly Commended
“Happy Days”
by Elizabeth Goldberg
Some exciting use of colour in this simple but exciting flower study. A lovely piece that commands your attention.
Best Figure / Portrait
Winner
“Gaze”
by Yaxuan Yu
Both the portraits are technically amazing but this one titled Gaze was so very powerful that I felt I knew the sitter and you feel him looking into your eyes.
Highly Commended
“Spirit of Country”
by Amanda Nicoll
This was also a very powerful portrait and captured the special quality in the face.
Highly Commended
“Silver and Sassy”
by Linda McEwan
What fun and what a clever use of collage. I think many of us will relate to the extravagance of gesture we would never dare to express publicly.
Best Abstract / 3D
Winner
“Whispers of the Reef”
by Susan Gardiner
This piece has an amazing energy with how everything seems to be racing into the centre feeling like our universe at present. I know it’s the sea, and the lines are describing the creatures, but they have a more universal application.
Highly Commended
“Landscape no. 1”
by Eddie Moses
This is intriguing and holds one’s attention with its powerful and dreamy atmosphere.
Highly Commended
“Chess Anyone”
by Wendy Swan
The chess board and the pieces had a beautiful relationship with the colour of the ceramic pieces and the checkerboard. Together they made a beautiful, interesting and harmonious design and the textures are very satisfying. A lovely piece, the sort of Chessboard I’d like to own as it’s both a work of art and has a practical use.
Best Landscape / Seascape
Winner
“Blue Tongue Bend Warrandyte”
by Rain White
I loved the intricate weaving of the riverbend through the structure and rhythm of the trees. It has a consistent tension of the surface, with paint strokes creating the feeling of being there in this tangled chaotic and treed riverbed.
Highly Commended
“Fjord Dreaming”
by Mark McSherry
Beautifully controlled watercolour with the darks very well handled to look rich and clean.
Hangers' Prize
Winner
“Head of a Young Woman”
by Manush Hayasinghe
This is a very well executed sensitive, even tender, rendition of a pensive, demure young woman. The artist effectively uses charcoal to create soft, subtle tonal changes from dark to light to reinforce the meditative mood of the work.
