Thousands of people will flood through the doors of Melbourne’s Glen Eira City Council Gallery to view paintings by Shepparton artist Ross Paterson.
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The annual exhibition is a collection of new works created by artists who form Twenty Melbourne Painters Society, one of Melbourne’s oldest and most prestigious art clubs.
The exhibition launched at the gallery on Wednesday night and will be open to the public for free from Thursday, August 22 to Sunday, September 8.
Mr Paterson said people will have the opportunity to view more than 160 works from the society's painters, and visitors are welcome to take part in daily talks by the artists.
“We do try to get people who are very good, proficient painters, not just an artist who picks up a brush and experiments colour,” he said.
“This year I have seven watercolour paintings and one oil painting.
“The paintings range from one of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, some are townships like Dookie and one or two others draw inspiration from my time in Italy,” he said.
Mr Paterson was invited to join 101-year-old club two decades ago and is one of only 20 members of the exclusive society.
After giving up his day job as an art teacher in 1994, Mr Paterson has since travelled the world teaching people to use watercolours.
In 2015, he was invited to be the international guest tutor for an art club in China made up of 66 000 members.
Mr Paterson said he draws inspiration for his landscape works while on his travels.
“A couple of times a year I catch up with a few guys from Sydney and we go to Tumut and I also catch up with another group from Melbourne and we go down to the Grampians,” he said.
“Some of the artists are a bit like me, they’ve given away their day job but painting is a full-time occupation.
“It’s a bit like a family, sometimes."
Mr Paterson has won a number of local and international awards and has represented Australia in various exhibitions in France, Bangkok and China.
He said he felt honoured to be able to pursue watercolour paintings as his occupation for so many years.
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