Jocelyn Maughan wins Gosford Art Prize

Patonga artist Ms Jocelyn Maughan has won this year's Gosford Art Prize.

The Gosford Art Prize is the Central Coast's most prestigious art award and is coordinated by Central Coast Council through Gosford Regional Gallery.

Now in its 49th year, this year's prize attracted more than 500 entrants from artists around Australia, in three different sections, including the Aboriginal Art Prize, held for the first time this year.

Ms Maughan took out the top award, the Gosford Art Prize, with her work Ken in Grisaille which was an oil on paper entry.

Ms Maughan said her win had been totally unexpected but a welcome surprise.

"I got a phone call the night before to confirm I would be attending the awards ceremony and that sort of tipped me off that I might have won something but I never thought I would win the major prize."

Ms Maughan has been a long time entrant of the prize and has won several awards over the years but never the major prize.

The win sees Ms Maughan follow in the footsteps of her late partner Mr Robin Norling, who she said won the prize some 10 years earlier.

Ms Maughan's winning piece pays homage to her long career in service to fine arts education.

Ever the educator, Ms Maughan used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to explain what the art technique of grisaille is.

"Grisaille is a technique going back to the old masters such as Rubens and Van Dyck, where a light-coloured surface is coated with dark grey paint and then highlights are created by rubbing the paint away.

"The result makes for a striking image with an absence of colour," she said.

With her work set to be displayed as part of the Gosford Art Prize Exhibition, Ms Maughan said Peninsula locals were more than welcome to drop into her free studio at the Patonga Bakehouse for a chat and to view more of her work.

"If you're face takes my fancy, I might even offer you a free portrait," Ms Maughan said.

Peninsula artists took other awards with Ettalong's Katerina Apale picking up one of two Commended awards in the Gosford Art Prize section for her oil on canvas piece Maria, and Blackwall's Connie Keith awarded the Ceramic Prize section's Highly Commended award for her piece Homage to my Heritage.

SOURCE:

Media release, 15 Sep 2019

Jane Smith, Central Coast Council

Interview (Dilon Luke), 18 Sep 2019

Jocelyn Maughan, Patonga