Image property of the Bendigo Historical Society
Margaret Kennedy and Julia Farrell start The Rush
Earlier this year the Bendigo Art Gallery announced The Paul Guest Prize for drawing.
I was excited by this news for a number of reasons, I'd visited Bendigo the previous year to view the touring 2009 Archibald exhibition and I had throughly enjoyed the weekend away indulging in the history of this once famous gold rush city. I was also keen to rise to the challenge of breaking out the old watercolour pencils giving myself a break from painting...
but if I'm really honest, the real selling clincher was the $10,000 prize money - Ha! I mean why not give it a go right?
There was no appointed theme for the competition which suited me. I'd already been inspired by a small slice of Bendigo history; allegedly in 1851 two women, Margaret Kennedy and Julia Farrell found gold which was picked up by a newspaper journalist which was how the gold rush got started in Bendigo. There is not much documentation on this story but I found it quite interesting all the same.
Painstakingly drawn - seriously, it took ages - on A1 drawing board with layer upon layer of watercolour pencil I illustrated my interpretation of Kennedy and Farrell finding gold. Surrounding them are ghost or shadow images of a number of future iconic structures to Bendigo, ie. Bendigo's talking tram, the Town Hall and the entrance to the Chinese Museum.
Below: Bendigo fountain on Pall Mall and the Chinese Museum entrance,
Bendigo's talking tram, lookout tower, the Town Hall
Images property of the Bendigo Historical Society
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My entry was unsuccessful. Am I disappointed? Totally!
I put a lot of care and thought into this work - as I do with all my work. Though I had really tailored my concept for Bendigo specifically thinking that it would appeal to the judging panel at the Bendigo Art Gallery. Obviously it didn't work, and maybe that's even the reason why it wasn't selected because it was TOO "Bendigo".
In all honesty, the images I have don't really do the work justice.The pencil work is so fine and there is so much small detail that it was actually a very difficult work to photograph. To see this work in the "flesh" is quite vibrant and impressive. I'm proud of this work.
Image property of the Bendigo Historical Society
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