More good news… the Trompe l’oeil painting of my grandson, Caelan as “Bob the Builder” has been selected as a finalist in the 2014 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, a biennial event held in Bega near the southern coast of NSW.
This award is for realistic portraiture and the entry is judged on a photograph of the painting compared with a photograph of the subject to ensure that the likeness is true.
This is a prize for dedicated portrait painters and is keenly contested by most of Australia’s best portrait artists because of the standard of competition and the $50,000 prizemoney.
The prize was initiated by Shirley Hannan, who was a first class artist and portrait painter, to encourage the ongoing survival of excellence in portrait painting. Since her death in 2005 the prize has continued to be sponsored by the generous support of her husband and family.
This is the sixth time I have entered this competition and this is the sixth time I have been fortunate to be a finalist.