Orange Art Society Annual Competition

It's been so busy these last few weeks and so much to do, be done......well at last it's done!

And it was a great roll up at the Orange Art Society Competition the other week......about 2 or 3 weekends ago. We all gathered round to see a wonderful exhibition of local talent.

I was invited to judge the show, 7 or 8 sections and then formally open the evening's celebrations and hand out the prizes. There were some outstanding works amongst what was an excellent collection. There is no doubt about it, the local artists are good painters.....with some good teachers, past and present.

With four seasons a year in the region, from bright autumn colours, through winter whites and greys and into fresh spring greens and our sunburnt summers, this region really develops the senses. The Central West has always produced excellent artists, Tim Storrier (Parkes boy), Elwynn Lyn (Canowindra boy), Lloyd Rees (Bathurst way) and Brett Whiteley to name a few. There's also Reg Campbell of Sunny Corner, and his protegees, Greg Turner then Tony Mason who kept a line of good basic realism going, and gave a thorough understanding of European traditions to their students.

I travel all around the place, east to west, and visit many art societies and galleries, and really, Orange can hold its own.....

This year saw the CWA exhibit as well......so it was representative of a large group of painters. Well done to all who helped out and supported this venture. I hope to see more of these in the future.