melissa smith ― double win

Handmark favourite, Melissa Smith is still floating on Cloud Nine after taking out yet another major Tasmanian art award. She has just won the Bay of Fires Art Prize, just months after another big win.

When we speak to Melissa she is still in a state of shock. Just days earlier she stood in disbelief as her print, Tracing the Silence Lake Sorell, was announced as the winner of the Bay of Fires Prize, which comes with a $20,000 purse. “I honestly didn’t expect to win, and when my name was called out, I was so overwhelmed I just burst out into tears. Yes, it has certainly been a fairly big start to the year.”

That is an understatement. In March Melissa won the Women’s Art Prize with the judges praising her ‘delicacy and interplay of line.’ Now, time for a well-earned break: “I’m off to Adeliade to see my grandson Thomas.” We can’t argue with that!