Amateur artists impress at Evans Arts Council art competition and sale

The Bathurst RSL Club auditorium with filled with colourful works of all different mediums on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the exhibition.

Judging was carried out on opening night, seeing the best of the best selected and awarded prizes, with just the People's Choice awards left to be determined.

With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting events, this was the first time since 2019 the art competition and sale had been held.

Coordinator Cheryl Armstrong was delighted with the number of entries received.

"For two years we haven't been able to run the show because of COVID, and this year was our first year since then, and we're very surprised and really happy with the high quality of artwork," she said.

The Evans Arts Council was particularly pleased to see so many children, who were as young as three, enter their artworks into the event.

Thirteen-year-old Evie Brown took out the Founder Perpetual Trophy, a new award donated by Evans Arts Council founder Jan Shephard, for her piece called Spring Blooms.

While there were dedicated prizes for first and second place in the juniors section, all of the entrants received an encouragement prize of an art kit and walked away with a feeling of pride from having their work on display.

"We had some very excited young children, because this was the first art exhibition they'd been to," Ms Armstrong said.

Almost all of the pieces entered into the competition were up for sale and Ms Armstrong said there was a lot of interest from patrons in making a purchase.

They had a wide range of pieces to choose from, including three from amateur artist David Young.

One of his pieces, Juxtaposition, was awarded first place in the abstract section.

It was inspired by a rainbow he spotted from his house in Eglinton, with the rainbow colours in his painting representing the 12 disciples with Christ.

Other elements of his painting also carry a biblical meaning, with the piece as whole designed to be a graphic representation of the concept of God and creation.

"Really, it's from Genesis to Revelation, just all in a picture," Mr Young said.

It took him nearly a month to create and he was thrilled for this piece to receive the top prize in its category.

"I'm ecstatic in that, yes, I can do two things. One is be proud of the fact that God's given me a talent and that I've been able to express that in doing a pictorial representation, as well as graphic, as well as get a story," he said.

While the art show has concluded, there are other opportunities for people to express their creativity with the Evans Arts Council, with the group offering workshops and craft groups throughout the year.

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