Clare Artist Thomas Delohery, who resides in Austrlais, has been named a Du Rietz Art Awards finalist.
The Du Rietz Art Awards are the premier national visual arts competition for the Gympie region in Queensland, Australia, hosted at the Gympie Regional Gallery.
This is the second time Thomas has been nominated for the prestigious award. On the previous occasion, in 2025, it was along with fellow Clare Man, Musician/Actor and Activist Steve Wall.
Thomas said: “I’m beyond delighted to be named a Du Rietz Art Awards Finalist with my painting, Restless Spirit. This is only the second time I have gotten into this Art Award.
I was fortunate to have actor Jared Harris of Madmen & Chernobyl fame sit for me. Jared has a restless spirit and couldn’t sit still. With him being a Hollywood actor, he was also taking calls during the sitting and one was a radio interview.”
Thomas added: “At first I found it a bit of a challenge with him being on the phone, but then I just leaned into it in my portraits of him. I got two life drawings in and then it was time for him to put his shades on and go to his next appointment in the City. I remember a female member of staff’s face light up as she saw him coming down the stairs in the hotel.
Phones are such a big part of nearly all our human interactions these days that I decided to capture that, along with Jared’s restless spirit spiralling around the room.”