BROOKE van Ruiswyk was one of the 42 finalists chosen from 703 entries in this year’s Glover Prize for her oil on canvas Blue Hills Pine. It was one of the first paintings sold in the Glover Finalist’s Exhibition at the Falls Park Pavilion in Evandale which opened in March.
Brooke is married to Jan and Robyn van Ruiswyk’s eldest son Bradley and is a teacher. Her parents Ellen and Bernard Atkins, as with the van Ruiswyks, are on the land and own Ellbern Murray Grey Stud in Stanley.
Celebrating the legacy of John Glover, the Glover Prize has become one of Australia’s most significant awards for landscape painting.
“As I travel along Mawbanna Road I notice that the clouds full, dark and moving at their own pace – add a certain moodiness to the day,” Ms van Ruiswyk said in her artist’s statement. “I am transported to a world of pastoral landscape that is familiar and comforting; tamed and contained yet sitting on the edge of mystery with the blue hills and forest reserve peeping in the distance.
“In one of the sap green, sodden paddocks an imposing pine has long established itself, solitary in the fertile earth that I know too well to be red, though not visible.
“Its presence leaves me with a sense of humbled awe as I gaze at its immense size and beauty; I contemplate its longevity, and my own status as a mere person passing through.”
Mr van Ruiswyk said the win was a wonderful achievement for Brooke.
“We are very proud of her,” he said.
Joanna Chew won the 2023 Glover Prize for her painting Tender depicting a caravan and tent at the Hobart Showgrounds as a reflection on the housing crisis.