Great Southern winning place to be a creative force

We have a wealth of talent in the region, which is proven by a line-up of recent award winners.

With a handful of recent art awards rolled out across the region, it is great to see some of our talented creatives recognised for their efforts.

Shire of Plantagenet local Andy Dolphin won two awards at this year’s Plein Air Down Under outdoor painting festival on the September long weekend.

“En plein air” is a French expression which means “in the open air”.

Plein air artists seek the quality of natural light and the atmosphere of the outdoors, and their work is a direct response to the beauty found in nature.

Many media are used, from oils through to watercolours and pastels.

Dolphin won the festival’s non-professional category for his painting, which was invited to be shown in the Judge’s Invitational Exhibition and Awards at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah.

Dolphin also won a highly commended award at the Quick Draw Paint-Out, where artists competed in a two-hour high-energy paint-off in Mandurah on the first day of the festival.

The artist lives in the scenic Plantagenet Shire, a short distance from the beach and the Stirling and Porongurup Ranges — no doubt an inspirational place to work.

A popular demonstrator and workshop host, Dolphin has experience across multiple media including graphic art, sign-writing and plein air landscapes in oils and gouache.

I think it’s wonderful to see a small part of our region represented in these awards that involved 152 artists from around the State.

No matter if you’re young or old, age is definitely just a number when it comes to creativity, and it’s encouraging to see different age groups represented successfully.

Last month, Denmark girl Elva Verity also won an award.

Elva was the winner of the upper secondary category in the Tim Winton Award for Young Writers.