'Who Won the Last' by Howard Steer
Copyright Gavin Schmidt, 2022.
The 2023 poster artwork, titled ‘Who Won the Last’, was designed by Broken Hill Artist Howard Steer, the “Flying Doctor Artist”.
The painting features Howard’s take on the 2022 St Pats Race meeting that was plagued by telecommunications errors. A range of familiar faces can be seen on the track including Taylor Walker, Cosi and the Holdens in their ‘last year’.
The lack of phone and internet coverage at the racecourse has been a source of frustration for all users and it’s a situation that Howard pounced on for this years’ artwork.
“At this year’s race meeting there were people and bookmakers leaving because of the 3rd world telecommunication issues,” Howard said.
“The painting depicts that and also shows bookmakers trying to find out who won the last race.”
The painting has another purpose and that is to acknowledge the many volunteers and community members that have supported St Pats.
“It goes without saying that without the generosity of local business people and the willingness of people to roll up their sleeves and volunteer their time, the race meeting would have finished years ago,” Howard said.
The finished product from Howard delighting the club.
“As you would expect from our talented local artists the finished product is brilliant,” said Club President Andrew Schmidt.
“Apart from the talent there is also the generosity from people such as Howard who are willing to dedicate their time and effort to assist St Pats in promoting our event and Broken Hill.”
With the painting completed the club has now gone into print for its famous posters which should be available during December.
“We have told the printer to commence the run of posters and we are hoping we will have them later this week,” said office manager Lyn Bent.
“We aim to have them available prior to Christmas, we do encourage people travelling over Christmas and the New Year to call into the Visitors Information Centre and grab some and help spread the word.”
ABOUT HOWARD
“Howard William Steer born in 1947 is a Broken Hill artist. He developed the foundation for what he calls “Story Art”, where each painting tells its own story, be that of a backyard wedding or a Sunday afternoon pub crawl. A prime example is the “Flying Doctor” series featuring a winged, black-suited saviour complete with top hat and bag. He has a wicked sense of humour and no subject is safe from his satirical brush. Howard’s style is classified as naive realism.
His work is in many private collections throughout Australia and overseas. He has exhibited in most Australian capital cities and regional areas and his work is extremely sought after.”
– From HowardSteertArt.com
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