Eve Lamb
Castlemaine artist Greg Wood has won Victoria’s $20,000 John Lesley Art Prize.
The local artist claimed the newly announced award with his oil on linen work entitled Reimagining, inspired by Castlemaine’s Forest Creek where it runs near his Chewton home.
And fellow Castlemaine painter, Rob Maclaurin, also has cause for celebration as he made the finals of the John Lesley that celebrates landscape works.
The results were announced at a special event held in recent days at the Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale – with Greg running just half an hour late – due to various delays en route – to be present to hear his work announced as the winning piece.
“It was pretty overwhelming. I’m very chuffed,” he said. “It’s based on the Forest Creek walk and it’s more about mood and atmosphere.”
The winning artist has an exhibition in Prahran’s Otomys Art Gallery over November 20-December 10. His work will also be part of a group exhibition planned for Castlemaine’s Brickworks Gallery early in the new year.
Gippsland Art Gallery director Simon Gregg says the John Leslie Art Prize received 455 entries from across Australia with only 50 of them were shortlisted.
Wood’s winning landscape will now become a part of the Gippsland Art Gallery’s permanent collection while the shortlisted works also remain on display at the gallery until November 27.
Mclaurin, originally from Scotland but now a long-time Castlemaine local says making the finals with his en plein air oil on cedar wood panel work entitled By The Wonnangatta River, Dargo’2022, felt like great achievement for him.
“It was a good feeling for me because I’ve been painting en plein air for 40 years but this was the first time I’ve entered an en plein air piece in a show,” said the happy finalist.
He has 20 of his works set to feature as part of a joint exhibition with Castlemaine artist, Kynan Sutherland, at the Gippsland Art Gallery over February-March.
