Neville Connor

Neville Connor has pursued a career as an artist and musician since growing up in the western Riverina town of Hay. His passion for art in particular, was fuelled during his schooling by his manual arts teacher, Rupert Donison, (also a painter) who encouraged his talent and that of his good mate Kevin Oxley, who also became an accomplished artist. Art as a subject was not available at his high school during those years.

To the two young teenagers, it seemed that Hay, which was previously known as Lang’s Crossing (Neville prefers the original name as it is more poetic) offered limited subject matter for their paintings. A flat treeless plain that challenges the concentration of motorists with its arrow straight bitumen stretching endlessly to the horizon in either direction and languid Murrumbidgee River with its steep banks bordered by huge river gums. Although the river banks were the playground of young boys in Hay, they were not the inspirations for paintings.

Neville moved on from Hay (pop. 3500) to study art at East Sydney Art School and then on to the UK via Greece to study at Camden Art School in London. His overseas odyssey continued for several years as a professional musician and painter. He played music in Greece ...

Macquarie Towns Exhibition 1977,1978,1983,1984
Ralph Marks Memorial Prize, Albury 1979,1980
Albury Art Prize 1982,1984,1986
Sydney Royal Easter Watercolour Art Prize 1996
Sydney Royal Easter Traditional Art Prize 1983, 2005
Shoalhaven Excellence in Art Prize 1994, 1995, 2004, 2006,2008
Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylic Painting Prize Sydney 2009

Neville’s art work features in the following publications
“Gold at Harrietville” 1982
“Under the Chloroform Tree” 1984
“History of Rutherglen” 1985
“The Old Ewe” 1982
Books published by Shoestring Press, Victoria Australia