Twice a year Chroma sponsors Art Awards for the Art Scene Mitchell School of the Arts, summer and winter schools. The schools are an intensive week of workshops held in term breaks in Bathurst in late January and early July. Tuition is provided by practicing professional and experienced artists in all range of traditional mediums. Entries are received before each event to allow the winners to take advantage of the school.1st prize is a scholarship for the week plus $100 worth of paints. 2nd and 3rd prizes are awarded and receive valuable product prizes for painters.

This year 1st prize was awarded to Sonja Biziuk with her painting ‘The Morning After Boy’s Night’ . Sonja has written,

‘This particular painting was inspired by the beautiful and moving experience of watching a father bonding with his two sons by playing music together in the evening. They played for hours and I watched on, sipping red wine and feeling the love in the room. The next morning I noticed my empty wine glass next to the melted candle of the previous evening and the guitars all around.’

This work is out of Jo Sonja acrylics although Sonja has previously painted in oils. She learned from Herman Pekel in a workshop this year, how to achieve oil painting effects with acrylics in a fraction of the time it would take in oils.

Butterfly Image has been awarded 2nd prize with third prize going to the work, "Landing Is Not All It's Cracked Up To Be" by Yolanda Seach. Yolanda began the under painting in Atelier Interactive and completed the last layers of the image in Archival oils.

These three artists will be attending the next Mitchell School of the Arts in Bathurst from 15th-21st January, 2012. For any one interested in attending, enrollment forms are available from the Art scene, 916 Victoria Road, West Ryde or their website http://www.artscene.com.au/web/home.asp. Enrollments close this Friday 25th November.