Beautiful gum bark

"Bursting with pride" is how I feel right now, because my girl Pammy has just won a 'highly commended' award on the opening night of the GreenWay Art Prize, which is held at Art Est Gallery in Leichhardt, and is now in its 5th year. 

And a lovely little bit of icing on the cake was that the award was presented to Pam by the only local councillor we know, Chris Woods (he's an old friend I've known for more than 40 years). When Chris "opened the envelope" (in award-speak), the delight on his face was wonderful to see – "I actually know the 'highly recommended' winner, she's a good friend of mine" he said – then he announced Pam as the winner of the 'highly recommended award for the painting below, a watercolour of gum bark. 

Gum Bark © Pamela Horsnell 2014

It's one of the growing themes in Pam's painting that I can see developing. While she does a wide variety of painting styles and works in various media, some of her best work is in the zone where her subject matter looks abstract at first glance yet is strikingly real at the same time, when you look at it more closely. It's lovely work, darling!

If you want to get along to the Art Est gallery to see the truly impressive array of artworks on display (not just paintings, the overall winner of the main prize was a video-art piece), you can visit the Art Est Gallery Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am to 9pm; Thursday and Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturdays 9.30am to 1pm. 

It's at Art Est Gallery, Studio 4, 67-69 Lords Road, Leichhardt (which is a short walk from Leichhardt Marketown, for those who know the area).

And the GreenWay project itself is well worth finding out about, especially if you're in the council areas of Leichhardt, Marrickville, Ashfield and Canterbury, all of whom are involved. The aim is to improve the environment of inner city Sydney by establishing a "GreenWay" corridor through these local government areas, from Iron Cove on Sydney Harbour through to Cooks River, which runs into Botany Bay. You can read all about the GreenWay project, and its centrepiece GreenWay Corridor, here at www.greenway.org.au.