The Bradley 2024 winner announced…

Cat Jardine has won ABC Radio Brisbane’s annual portrait prize.

Known for his sunny personality, passion for nature, and iconic beard… ABC Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis was the subject of this year’s ‘The Bradley’ competition. Earlier this year, ABC Radio challenged its listeners to capture the wild inner beauty of this gardening guru – and the entries did not disappoint. More than 450 Costa creations flooded in from amateur and professional artists, in a range of styles, colours, and materials – there was even a Costa made entirely from Lego!

Cat Jardine’s winning entry (above) will hang in the ABC Brisbane Lobby and then be part of the Brisbane Portrait Prize at the State Library of Queensland. The acrylic painting depicts Costa sitting serenely in a field of daffodils and jonquils with flowers in his beard and three of his adored chickens. Cat describes her painting style as “distinctly naïve”, focusing on creating “whimsical and colourful moments.”

Here are some more of the beautiful entries, including Aiden Lee Smith’s colourful creation, Alister Scott’s quirky gnome-like Costa, and De Gillett Cox’s detailed portrait of Costa with a beard full of native flowers.