Ep 169: 12 finalists, 12 landscapes
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/7Mgyp0pVVts"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Watch an edited video version of this episode on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel here</span></em></a></p>
<p><a href="https://talkingwithpainters.com/2025/10/04/ep-169-12-finalists-12-landscape-paintings/"><em>Podcast listeners see the works we talk about here or go to talkingwithpainters.com (ep 169)</em></a></p>
<h4><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I travelled to Hobart for the announcement of the Hadley’s Art Prize, I not only interviewed the winner, Sophie Cape (you can hear her in the previous episode), but also had the privilege of speaking with twelve of the other outstanding finalists (see images of works below)</span></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At $100,000 the Hadley’s is Australia’s richest landscape art prize, and the calibre of work this year was outstanding. With 29 finalists in total, I would have loved to talk with every single one, but time was short in the lead-up to the celebrations! Even so, these conversations give you a cross-section of artists and approaches to depicting the Australian landscape — from bold abstraction to meticulous realism.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode, you’ll hear from the following artists: </span>Michaye Boulter, Belinda Street, Neil Haddon, Valerie Sparks (Honourable Mention), Peter Griffen, Harrison Bowe (People’s Choice winner), <span style="font-weight: 400;">Melanie McCollin Walker, Denise Lamby (Residency Prize winner), Julz Beresford, Raymond Arnold, Richard Klecociuk and Melissa Kenihan.</span></p>
<p>Links</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/7Mgyp0pVVts">YouTube video highlights of this episode</a></li>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/pQPEm3enL28?si=IX3rOp5rsFCX8xJw">YouTube video of interview with winner Sophie Cape</a></li>
<li><a href="https://talkingwithpainters.com/2025/09/01/__trashed-3/">Podcast interview with winner Sophie Cape </a></li>
<li><a href="https://talkingwithpainters.com/newsletter-signup/">Talking with Painters Newsletter</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/talking_with_painters/?hl=en">Talking with Painters on Instagram</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithpainters">Talking with Painters on Facebook</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-stoljar-5016a944/">Maria Stoljar on LinkedIn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.hadleysartprize.com.au/">Hadley’s Art Prize website</a>
<p><div id="attachment_8996" style="width: 650px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8996" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-8996" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/michaye-boulter_atmospheres.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="428" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/michaye-boulter_atmospheres.jpeg 640w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/michaye-boulter_atmospheres-300x201.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8996" class="wp-caption-text">Michaye Boulter<br />Atmospheres,<br />oil on linen 102 x 153</p></div></li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_8992" style="width: 1077px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8992" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8992" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/neil-haddon_a-view-of-water-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1067" height="1170" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/neil-haddon_a-view-of-water-scaled.jpg 2337w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/neil-haddon_a-view-of-water-274x300.jpg 274w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/neil-haddon_a-view-of-water-935x1024.jpg 935w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/neil-haddon_a-view-of-water-768x841.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/neil-haddon_a-view-of-water-1402x1536.jpg 1402w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1067px) 100vw, 1067px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8992" class="wp-caption-text">Neil Haddon<br />‘A view of water’<br />Acrylic oil and lacquer on aluminium<br />140 x 130</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8997" style="width: 684px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8997" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8997" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/valerie-sparks_the-long-view.jpeg" alt="" width="674" height="985" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/valerie-sparks_the-long-view.jpeg 437w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/valerie-sparks_the-long-view-205x300.jpeg 205w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8997" class="wp-caption-text">Valerie Sparks (Honourable Mention)<br />‘The Long View’<br />Pigment inkjet print on paper</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8993" style="width: 806px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8993" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8993" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/peter-griffen_small-rocks-and-wild-grass-mixed-media-on-canvas-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="796" height="600" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/peter-griffen_small-rocks-and-wild-grass-mixed-media-on-canvas-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/peter-griffen_small-rocks-and-wild-grass-mixed-media-on-canvas-300x226.jpg 300w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/peter-griffen_small-rocks-and-wild-grass-mixed-media-on-canvas-1024x772.jpg 1024w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/peter-griffen_small-rocks-and-wild-grass-mixed-media-on-canvas-768x579.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/peter-griffen_small-rocks-and-wild-grass-mixed-media-on-canvas-1536x1158.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8993" class="wp-caption-text">Peter Griffen<br />‘Small Rocks and Wild Grass’<br />Mixed media on canvas 91 x 122cm</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8986" style="width: 1226px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8986" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8986" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/belinda-street_newcastle-harbour.jpg" alt="" width="1216" height="1214" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/belinda-street_newcastle-harbour.jpg 2482w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/belinda-street_newcastle-harbour-300x300.jpg 300w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/belinda-street_newcastle-harbour-150x150.jpg 150w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/belinda-street_newcastle-harbour-768x767.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1216px) 100vw, 1216px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8986" class="wp-caption-text">Belinda Street<br />‘Newcastle Harbour’<br />Oil on canvas 90 x 90cm</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8988" style="width: 1255px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8988" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8988" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/harrison-bowe_of-peaks-and-tides-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1245" height="1975" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/harrison-bowe_of-peaks-and-tides-scaled.jpg 1614w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/harrison-bowe_of-peaks-and-tides-189x300.jpg 189w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/harrison-bowe_of-peaks-and-tides-646x1024.jpg 646w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/harrison-bowe_of-peaks-and-tides-768x1218.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/harrison-bowe_of-peaks-and-tides-969x1536.jpg 969w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1245px) 100vw, 1245px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8988" class="wp-caption-text">Harrison Bowe (Winner People’s Choice Award)<br />‘Of Peaks and Tides’<br />Oil and enamel and beeswax on linen</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8990" style="width: 1250px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8990" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8990" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1240" height="1240" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-300x300.jpg 300w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-150x150.jpg 150w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-768x768.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-500x500.jpg 500w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melanie-mccollin-walker_quiet-refuge-125x125.jpg 125w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8990" class="wp-caption-text">Melanie McCollin Walker<br />‘Quiet Refuge’<br />Acrylic on linen 156 x 156cm</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8987" style="width: 1262px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8987" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8987" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1252" height="1229" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-300x295.jpg 300w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-1024x1006.jpg 1024w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-768x754.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-1536x1508.jpg 1536w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/denise-lamby_memory-of-the-land-2048x2011.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1252px) 100vw, 1252px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8987" class="wp-caption-text">Denise Lamby (Winner Residency Prize)<br />Memory of the Land<br />Recycle tea bags canvas 90 x 90cm</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8989" style="width: 1274px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8989" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8989" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/julz-beresford_a-stillness-at-the-waters-edge-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1264" height="1281" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/julz-beresford_a-stillness-at-the-waters-edge-scaled.jpg 2526w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/julz-beresford_a-stillness-at-the-waters-edge-296x300.jpg 296w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/julz-beresford_a-stillness-at-the-waters-edge-1010x1024.jpg 1010w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/julz-beresford_a-stillness-at-the-waters-edge-768x778.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1264px) 100vw, 1264px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8989" class="wp-caption-text">Julz Beresford<br />‘A Stillness at the Water’s Edge’<br />Oil on canvas 93 x 93</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8994" style="width: 1277px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8994" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8994" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/raymond-arnold_the-blue-yellow-red-gum-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1267" height="974" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/raymond-arnold_the-blue-yellow-red-gum-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/raymond-arnold_the-blue-yellow-red-gum-300x231.jpg 300w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/raymond-arnold_the-blue-yellow-red-gum-1024x788.jpg 1024w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/raymond-arnold_the-blue-yellow-red-gum-768x591.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/raymond-arnold_the-blue-yellow-red-gum-1536x1182.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1267px) 100vw, 1267px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8994" class="wp-caption-text">Raymond Arnold<br />‘The ‘blue,yellow’ Red Gum’<br />Digital print</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8998" style="width: 1127px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8998" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8998" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/richard-klekociuk_ancient-light.jpeg" alt="" width="1117" height="1655" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/richard-klekociuk_ancient-light.jpeg 431w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/richard-klekociuk_ancient-light-202x300.jpeg 202w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1117px) 100vw, 1117px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8998" class="wp-caption-text">Richard Klecociuk<br />‘Ancient light’<br />Coloured pencil and ink<br />108 x 83cm</p></div>
<div id="attachment_8991" style="width: 1380px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8991" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-8991" src="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1370" height="504" srcset="https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-300x110.jpg 300w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-1024x376.jpg 1024w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-768x282.jpg 768w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-1536x565.jpg 1536w, https://talkingwithpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/melissa-kenihan_living-memory-2048x753.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1370px) 100vw, 1370px" /><p id="caption-attachment-8991" class="wp-caption-text">Melissa Kenihan<br />‘Living Memory’<br />Oil on linen 55 x 155 cm</p></div>
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