SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.-It was announced today at the Brett Whiteley Studio in Sydney's Surry Hills, that Wayde Owen from Southport in Queensland is the winner of the seventh Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship for his work Calfornian Quail, oil and bitumen on canvas.

143 entries were received from around Australia, of which 22 are included in the finalists' exhibition at the Brett Whiteley Studio where they will be on display until 4 December 2005.

The highly talented twenty-eight-year-old has only studied at an art school for a total of six months - he is, like Brett Whiteley, essentially self-taught. As a full-time practicing artist he has already participated in several group and solo exhibitions in the five years he has been painting. Although he himself has never left Australia, his work is in many private collections in London, New York, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia.

Wayde Owen was born and raised in what he describes as the heart of housing commission hell in Western Sydney. The more I paint, the more personal it becomes and though it isn’t my personality, my innards are laid bare for all to see.

I can't really paint pretty pictures or even things that make people feel good, what I want to do is squeeze myself into or out of the works. Recently I have been painting myself as a bird, or with birds. I have been studying a 'Birds of Australia' book and relate to the breed attributes given to the birds. I sometimes think there should be a people dictionary, with images, listing mating habits and temperaments of humans.

Last year year, Mrs Beryl Whiteley was awarded an OAM for the creation and endowment of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. The inspiration for this annual scholarship was the profound effect of international travel and study experienced by her son, Brett Whiteley, as a result of winning the Italian Travelling Art Scholarship at the age of 20.

The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship is open to Australian artists aged between 20 and 30 years. The winner is awarded $25000 and a 3-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, which is administered by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The judges for the 2005 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship are artist Margaret Woodward, Art Gallery of New South Wales Director, Edmund Capon and Barry Pearce, the Gallery's Head Curator of Australian Art.

Margaret Woodward on commenting on Wayde's winning work said the work had a passion for natural things and a tradition of modern paint. Finalists paintings will be exhibited at the Brett Whiteley Studio from Saturday 1 October to 4 December 2005.