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The Jury Art Prize 2026
Unfinished Pictures
Jenna Pickering
Oil on scrap metal from old station.
It makes you wonder how a piece of steel could come to look such a way. What did it belong to? What has it seen? What happened to it?
Much like people really. From a simple glance you don’t know what they’ve they’ve been through. What brought them to this very moment. You see what you want to see. Make your conclusions without the full picture.
You wouldn’t know at first glance that Ivan grew up on a station. You wouldn’t know he use to ride bulls semi professionally with the career cut short. You wouldn’t know that when I met him his nickname was cowboy and it took me months of seeing him to get the courage to ask to paint him. But now you do.
The picture is still unfinished. Like this painting. But that’s no reason not to enjoy it for what it is and what you do know.
About the Artist
Jenna Pickering
Pilbara
I'm Jenna Pickering, I'm a 26 yr old self taught artist/portrait painter. This year I am taking the step to doing art full-time after years of doing it on the side as a hobby. Throughout this time I have been lucky enough to have won awards in The Lester Prize, Cossack Art Awards, Gascoyne Art Awards and more. I was also on season 1 of ABC's Portrait Artist of the Year and made it all the way to the finals. I was then on Season 7 of Ernie Dingo Going Places where they came to my Tom Price studio (house) to look at my art. Throughout this time in finding my style and values in art I have been lucky enough to meet/paint people such as Phil Collins, Don Walker, Shane Howard, Troy Cassar-Daley, lan Moss, Paul Kelly, Tim Freedman, Amazing Indigenous Elders and more. I have also assisted in judging the Showcase in Pixels and Jundunmannah Art Awards. In my previous job I worked in events and founded the Ashburton Art Awards that is now in its third year of running since its creation. I paint in a realistic style because I find that in todays world no one wants to be who they are. So I find joy in showing people that beauty is in the lines, the greys, the scars. They're what make you, you. I also have a huge passion for sustainability and the earth and try to work it into my pieces. I do this through using discarded items and trash, turning them into treasure. As well as in my latest piece trying to add a subtle tad of activism through my work that I would like to look into further.