Capturing a little piece of paradise in Tasmania has secured Canberra artist Ross Townsend a finalist spot in this year's Gosford Art Prize.
His oil painting, Reflections Derwent River, is one of 144 finalist works in the prize, the contenders selected from almost 1000 entries this year.
The Gosford Art Prize, presented by the Gosford Regional Gallery on the Central Coast of NSW, is open to artists from across Australia and has a first prize of $15,000.
Mr Townsend, from Tuggeranong, painted a peaceful scene of a bend in the Derwent River in Tasmania.
"I went for a holiday in Tasmania and was driving around and looked across and saw this unbelievable scene, just a perfect river landscape," he said.
The experience inspired him to create a large oil on canvas.
"The painting is basically exactly as the scene was that day," he said.
He was also recently a finalist in the 2022 Calleen Art Award, presented by the Cowra Regional Art Gallery, with a similarly stunning rendition of the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains.
The winner of the Gosford Art Prize will be announced on September 8.
Mr Townsend, a finalist in last year's Archibald Prize, is self-taught, focusing on landscapes before moving on to portraits that are incredibly detailed and life-like.
His subjects have included then Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin and then ACT Supreme Court chief justice Helen Murrell.
But, with a landscape, he is hoping to take out the Gosford Art Prize, a staple of the Central Coast arts community since the 1970s.
"I'm always hoping to win, that's why I enter, but it also doesn't worry me too much if I don't get selected or don't win because, by that time, I've already moved on and am working on the next piece," Mr Townsend said.
The finalist works in the Gosford Art Prize will be on exhibition from September 9 to November 5.
All the works are for sale, including Reflections Derwent River, for $3500.
