This afternoon I had an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. My drawing, Swan Song 2, is a finalist in the inaugural WAMA Art Prize Works on Paper Award: Where Art Meets Nature. I had assumed my entry was unsuccessful, because aside from initial acknowledgment of the entry form, I received no further correspondence from WAMA*. Only 40 finalists were selected from over 500 entries, so I’m still in a state of numb but happy disbelief. Felicitations to the prize winners, including overall winner Melissa Smith and all the other finalists.
Many thanks to Arts & Culture Ballarat for tagging me in their Facebook post about the WAMA Art Prize today, otherwise I might never have known that my work had been shortlisted.*The finalists’ works are on the WAMA website, where you can also vote for the People's Choice Award.
*(I’ve since had a phone call from WAMA. It seems an email informing me of my selection was sent last week. This isn’t the first time I’ve had problems with emails; very possibly it landed in my junk mail).
Pictured top: Swan Song 2, 2021, pigmented drawing ink, watercolour and acrylic on paper, 76h x 56w cm. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.
