Day in the Life of Mission to Seafarers

Volunteers at the Geraldton Mission to Seafarers give their time to provide refuge and a friendly face to those who live and work at sea.

Day in the life of Mission to Seafarers from ABC Open Mid West WA on Vimeo.

Brush with God

By CHARLENE MACAULAY

John Gambardella with his work Divine Intervention, which will feature as part of the Annual ANL Maritime Art Prize. 87106 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI

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JOHN Gambardella is hanging on divine intervention to help him take out a prestigious art prize.

The Footscray artist has been selected to exhibit at the 2012 Annual ANL Maritime Art Prize with his work, Divine Intervention, a canvas painting of Melbourne’s Mission to Seafarers building done in enamel and acrylic.

This is the sixth consecutive year Mr Gambardella has been selected as a finalist for this prize, and he is hoping this will be the year he will scoop the $15,000 prize.

“(The) work is a symbolic interpretation between the old world against the ever-growing modern structures which surround the Mission to Seafarers and the need to safeguard its existence – hence the mobile cranes as the protectors,” he said.

Earlier this year Mr Gambardella captured Italy’s most iconic landmarks – including the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Trevi Fountain – as part of the Art in Public Places program.

He also received a special mention at the Corangamarah Art Prize in March for his piece Salt Expanse – Lake Eyre, which will be included as part of his solo exhibition later this year.

The Italian-born man is a self-taught artist who gave up his craft in his mid-twenties because he couldn’t make any money from it.

Instead, he took up a job as an accountant for the Federal Government, and only picked up the paintbrushes again in 2005.

He is now inundated with work, painting a range of oils, acrylics, enamels, watercolours and pastels.

Devine Intervention will be on display from 5-31 October at the Mission to Seafarers building in Melbourne.