A painting of the Eleven Mile Drive at Eglinton has been highly commended in the 2012 NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize.
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The work by Bathurst artist Rachel Ellis is titled Eglinton Landscape II and depicts a long stretch of road extending into the distance, framed by a landscape of open fields and hills.
It was one of three works to receive recognition as “highly commended,” as judged by Mr Michael Rolfe of Museums and Galleries NSW.
Ms Ellis is a plein air painter of some note, having appeared in more than 60 group exhibitions and nine solo exhibitions.
She has been a finalist in the Dobell Drawing Prize, a winner of the Alan Gamble Prize.
Legislative Council president Don Harwin said Ms Ellis was selected as a finalist from a pool of over 284 entries, which captured just about every corner of the State – from Balmain to Bowral, Manly to Bega and Kings Cross to Mutawintji.
Ms Ellis said her subject first caught her eye several years ago, largely because of the structure of the landscape and also the road which shoots arrow-like into the middle distance.
“Last year, coming into Eglinton, I was struck by the sunset making the distant hills pink,” she said. “This painting was an attempt to respond to this.”
Ms Ellis said the scene reminded her of the work of South Australian artist Horrace Trennery, who often incorporates roads in his paintings.
“I’ve always had my eye on that vista,” she said.
Ms Ellis was born in Adelaide, grew up in Forbes, went to art school in Sydney and moved to Bathurst in 2001 where she fell in love with the region’s striking landscapes.
A painter since her teen years, she is currently facilitating art activities at the Macquarie Care Centre.
The NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize is among the few art prizes in Australia to focus exclusively on plein air painting, which sees the artist paint entirely out of doors. For more information, please visit