

Roger Knox: Dancing Spirit
For my very first major portraiture prize entry I have been lucky enough to paint Roger Knox, and I want to share this man's inspirational story with you. Roger is an Aboriginal musician known in Aboriginal communities across Australia as the “King of Koori Country”. It’s rumoured that every Aboriginal household in Australia owns one of his albums. I first met Roger in his hometown of Toomelah, a remote, disadvantaged community on the Queensland border in 2006. Roger was lead


Reality Check: You can do this too
This is my art desk today. Fresh wet paint mixed over older dried-out layers, blended in items from my recycling bin - a takeaway container, a styrofoam meat tray and an empty strawberry punnet. A cheap roller alongside $6 test pots of wall paint from Bunnings. And two big fists full of brushes and sponges - almost the top of the line from what was on offer at the $2 shop. As artists we might trade on the romantic image of days spent drawing and designing, painting and inte