The painting that took the top prize at Wānaka this Labour Weekend is a still life with a native bird at its centre: a tūī sitting on a silver filigree bowl. Its title, Regal Tūī, suits it. Its maker, Julie Duncan, spends her working week in a studio at the Southern Institute of Technology's Gore campus, helping other people find their way with a brush.

Duncan, who facilitates SIT Gore's Art for Leisure class, won First Prize Overall, the top award at Wānaka Arts' 48th Labour Weekend Exhibition, held at the Lake Wānaka Centre. More than 80 artists took part, and she estimates there were about 150 works on the walls, which makes it a sizeable win for a tutor from eastern Southland, and a nice piece of reflected glory for the Gore studio where she teaches.

The award came with $3000, but she was quick to put the money in its place. "It's just the kudos more than the money," she told SIT's news service. What pleased her most was what the judges wrote, praising "perfect composition, skilful paint work, a well-balanced painting and eye-catching subject". For Duncan, that was proof that she knew exactly what she was doing when she set the bird on the bowl.

Lake Wānaka from the town. The Wānaka Arts Labour Weekend Exhibition, now in its 48th year, was held at the Lake Wānaka Centre. File photo. Photo: Ann Woolliams / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake Wānaka from the town. The Wānaka Arts Labour Weekend Exhibition, now in its 48th year, was held at the Lake Wānaka Centre. File photo. Photo: Ann Woolliams / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

She entered three still lifes this year, and each one took her somewhere between two and three months. As for the prize money, it already has a destination. "It always goes back into art. It always does. That's what I do with my life," she said. Her test for when a painting is done is disarmingly simple: "If you smile, it's finished; you'll know. If you're not smiling, you know it's not ready."

Back in Gore, the class she runs is as much about company as technique. Duncan talks about artists of every level sitting side by side and learning from one another. "We all feed off each other when you've got a group of people together," she said, adding that a shared studio has one great advantage over the kitchen table: nobody is getting up to do the dishes. "Everybody's perfect in their own way. Everybody is talented in their own way."

The Big Guitar in Gore. SIT's Gore campus, where Julie Duncan runs the Art for Leisure class, opened its studios to the public during this year's Murihiku Arts Trail. File photo. Photo: Ben Murrin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Big Guitar in Gore. SIT's Gore campus, where Julie Duncan runs the Art for Leisure class, opened its studios to the public during this year's Murihiku Arts Trail. File photo. Photo: Ben Murrin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

That open-door approach was on show over the weekend of 31 October and 1 November, when SIT Gore opened its studios for the Murihiku Arts Trail. Somewhere between 80 and 100 people came through, and Duncan described the response as "absolutely wonderful", with hopes that a few of those visitors might sign up for classes.

She has no plans to close the doors again. "If I'm working here, I will always open it up for people to see what we're doing. It's wonderful," she said. For anyone who has wondered whether a class is for them, she has a reassurance that sounds a lot like her painting rule: "It doesn't always have to be teaching people. The classes here could be just being amongst like-minded people."

Details of SIT's Art for Leisure classes at the Gore campus are available from the Southern Institute of Technology.