Painter aces hat-trick with Bali-inspired work

ONE FOR THE COLLECTION: Tauranga artist Kim Artus won the Tauranga Society of Artists Art Expo Supreme Award for the third time in a row.PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

An award-winning painting created in 25 hours has taken out the Supreme Art Award at this year's Tauranga Society of Artists Art Expo.

It is the third year in a row that Kim Artus has won the award. He also won the new artist category for the same painting at this year's Auckland Easter Show.

Artus' acrylic-on-canvas painting was inspired by a trip to Bali last year where he spotted three children with musical instruments who were part of the Galungan Festival.

"On the [Galungan] Festival, there [are] groups of about 15 kids who walk around with their drums and music getting donations and this group of kids [was] just sitting down having a rest," he said.

"I'm really good at painting kids and I know people love to see paintings like that."

Mr Artus said it took 25 hours to create but he had finished up painting the background three times after he initially finished the canvas.

"It was really annoying me and there was a time where I thought, 'Am I going to be able to do this'?" he said.

Judge Graham Crow said the work was well constructed and composed.

"You look at it and can feel the emotion of the characters and feel what the faces can feel.

"It's very easy to do a likeness of someone but it's getting that character and believing that figure that stood out." he said.

Trustpower community relations manager Graeme Purches said the artwork presented in this year's submissions were "stimulating" and encouraged young people to experience the exhibition's vibe. "It's a really really good and important exhibition," Mr Purches said.

"When you walk around the room, there's the diversity of the art that's here and the quality that actually stimulates people. It gets the brain ticking and it gets people thinking." he said.

Artus has kept the award in the family. His mother won the Society's Supreme Award in 2012. This year's Supreme Award adds to Artus' collection, after he also won the Tauranga Society of Artists Portaiture Award in 2012, followed by the Landscape Award in 2013. He also won the Figure Study award for 2012 and 2014.

It's also the second time an artwork from Artus has won at the Easter Show. Artus is keen to display a large copy of his original work when he returns to Bali soon.