2008 winner announced
Gail English of Crescent Head on the NSW mid north coast has been announced as this year’s winner of Countryscapes 2008 for her work Last Years Crops.
The winner was decided by Director, Head of Australian Paintings, Sotheby’s, and overall judge, Georgina Pemberton, at Australia’s oldest gallery, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery on 21 October.
Georgina said Gail’s work stands out because it engages the viewer, conveying a real sense of the Australian landscape.
“I had the feeling of flying across the landscape and looking down on a patchwork of fields,” Ms Pemberton said. “The artist has her own visual language.”
Gail was also a finalist in the Country Energy Art Prize in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
Youth Encouragement Award
Country Energy presents a Youth Encouragement Award each year as part of Countryscapes.
The winner of the 2008 $5,000 Youth Encouragement Award is 13 year old Antonia Crowe of Port Macquarie for her work Regrowth (Spring).
Highly Commended finalists
The following artists were highly commended finalists:
Uplift - Angus Nivison of Walcha
Seven Mile Sky - Angus McDonald of Lennox Head
Employees’ Choice Award
Wendy Martin from Broken Hill collected the Country Energy Employees' Choice Award for her work Out of the Blue. Around 600 employees voted this year with Wendy's painting winning the most support.
2008 finalist exhibition
This year 40 finalists were selected from 439 entries which flowed in from across NSW. The finalists represent diverse art mediums, backgrounds and views of the Australian landscape.
The 2008 finalist artworks will be exhibited at the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery from 29 October to 30 November and in Sydney at the Wentworth Galleries, 17 Bligh Street, from 9 to 31 December 2008.
View the 2007 winner
View the 2006 winner
View 2007 Finalists
View 2006 Finalists
