Visiting artist wins overall Art Expo award
Wellington artist Jane Blackmore has won the overall award at the Nelson Art Expo awards.
She was chosen out of the 150 artists from all over New Zealand who showcased their work at the three-day art expo at Saxton Stadium. The award presentations were made on Saturday night.
Blackmore specialises in oil pantings and gets her inspiration from nature.
She said she was really surprised to be presented with not just one, but three awards in total.
‘‘I got one award which was a really nice little buzz and then I got a couple more, which was kind of crazy and lovely.’’
‘‘A real buzz to acknowledged, really cool.
‘‘I love what I do but sometimes it’s just nice to know that people appreciate what you do.’’
She won the overall award on the evening as well as two additional awards of excellence. be
Blackmore said she thought the Nelson Art Expo compared well to any big city art expo.
‘‘The thing about the Nelson Expo is that it’s very slick, it compares to any big city one, but it still got a feeling of community.
‘‘They’ve combined the two really really well, very professional.’’
Blackmore said she has had a lot of interest in her work from visitors and had a lot of sales.
‘‘I’ve noticed that the Nelson public seem to be a lot more engaging.’’
She has presented her work at the Nelson Art Expo two years ago on invitation as the expo wasn’t then open to North Island artists.
Blackmore said the coffee and food stalls at the expo really set the Nelson Art Expo apart from others.
‘‘Retaining that Nelson intimacy [while] having something that is so on par with the big city events is really important.
‘‘I think Nelsonians should know that.’’