By Tanya Steele
Tucked away in Belgrave the Sherbrooke Art Society’s annual members’ spring show opening was held on Saturday 21 September at the Sherbrooke Gallery.
Emerging artist Angela Wilson from Kallista took out the Barbara Beasley Southgate Emerging Artist Award and the win has inspired the artist to keep exploring her medium.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to be afforded this award – it really is,” said Angela.
“I didn’t expect it,” she said.
With close to 100 entries across all mediums, the works were judged by Andrew Mackenzie on the day.
Mr Mackenzie presented a total of six awards across other categories including best oil/acrylic won by Agnes Szetey, best watercolour was won by It Hao Pheh, best pastel was won by Susan Garrett, best arts and crafts by Peter Khanlarian.
The Mavis Hill Award – Best in Show was won by an off the hill artist Glenn Hoyle and he received a 500 hundred dollar prize donated from Earthly Pleasures Cafe in Belgrave.
Angela said her winning entry was inspired by a day that was ‘just perfect’ as she and her husband were headed out for a picnic in Gembrook.
“The sky was quite dark, lots of clouds, but there were beams of sunlight coming through, and it just put little echoes on the ground in front of us,” she said.
“My husband and I went back a couple of times just to retrace our steps, just to pick up what is such a gorgeous view heading to Gembrook.”
The pastel painting took a few days to create after some deliberation over the layout and colours.
It is currently on show at the gallery along with some of her new works, which she calls ‘her fields.’
“The golden canola, when you have fields upon fields of yellow – that’s another area I’m playing with at the moment,” she said.
Angela has been working with pastels for awhile and was attending art classes once a week while working full-time before she began painting more regularly.
“During Covid, that all changed – I retired and it was very challenging but it gave me an opportunity to develop my own style.”
The artist has been exploring work with pastels for nearly five years now.
“Certainly my first entry into pastels was very much once a week or once a fortnight or once a month – now it’s almost like a daily thing,” said Angela.
Her work largely focuses on the Yarra Ranges and Yarra Valley in areas such as Warburton, Gembrook and Coldstream.
Angela loves landscapes and said she appreciates how much the hills and the Dandenongs have allowed some of her favourite artists to develop distinctive styles.
“When we think about where we live, we’ve been very lucky to have Arthur Streeton, Robert McCubbin and even Walter Withers, who were local artists in the area – they are pioneers and members of the old Heidelberg art school,” she said.
“They have a style which is very Australian, very unique, and that style which really attracted me.”
In recent years Angela has developed a big interest in Jeffrey Smart – known for his stark and dramatic work.
“Jeffrey Smart I absolutely love and have a huge interest in, largely because of the stark simplicity of his work,” she said.
“He is one of these Australian artists who’s made a stamp on the world.”
Along with landscapes, seascapes and the changeability of the seasons in the Dandenongs are also sources of inspiration for Angela.
“What I love about the landscapes more so is the sky and the clouds – and particularly the ever-changing seasons that we have, and we’re lucky to have,” said Angela.
“The sky right now will be different in an hours time – it’s just another painting ready to be painted,” she said.
Angela is also very inspired and has also met the namesake of her award Barbara Beasley-Southgate who was a founding member of the Sherbrooke Art Society.
“I used to see her fleeting in and out of the gallery from time to time,” she said.
“She was a gorgeous person and I felt very privileged to have won her award for this year. “
Ms Beasley-Southgate sadly passed away in 2019 and Angela said she is one of Australia’s best pastel artists.
“She had a huge influence on what I like, her art is actually something that I have hung in my home as well.”
Barbara’s husband Dennis has supported this award to encourage artists to find their feet to flourish and grow – he attended the ceremony to present Angela with her prize.
“Dennis made a trust so all emerging artists had an opportunity to win the Barbara Beasley Southgate award,” said Angela.
Sherbrooke Art Gallery will continue to display its Spring Show until 12 October and the gallery is open to the public on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 11am to 3pm.
For now, Angela plans to continue her work painting and she also volunteers regularly at the Sherbrooke Art Gallery.
“I’m on the right track, so I will certainly continue,” she said.
