Ross Laurie was born in Walcha in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Now spending his time between his family property outside Walcha, and Daylesford in Victoria's Macedon Ranges, he is known for his painterly interpretations of the outback landscape.
Laurie studied visual art at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979. In 1983 he travelled to London to do a foundation course at St Martin’s School of Art, followed by further studies at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic. His studies during this time were supplemented with travel throughout Europe before returning to Australia and completing a Bachelor of Art in Visual Art at Prahran College in Melbourne. In 1990 he returned to Walcha to paint, teach and live and work on the family farm. He regularly travels to outback locations. Recently he has visited Fowlers Gap, Arkaroola in South Australia and King Island in the Bass Strait, as well as teaching in Ross River and at Hale River Station in the Northern Territory.
Across his career, Ross Laurie’s paintings have been celebrated around Australia. He won the inaugural Norville Prize for Landscape Painting (1999), the COFA Print Award (2008), the Kings School Art Prize (2010) and the Paddington Art Prize (2015). He has been selected as a finalist in the Dobell and Wynne prizes at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His work has been selected for the Salon des Refusés at S. H. Ervin Gallery 10 times.
Laurie’s work can be found in numerous state and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artbank, New England Regional Art Museum, Tamworth Regional Gallery, The Laverty Collection Sydney, La Trobe University Melbourne, Macquarie Bank Collection and NRMA Sydney.
