The Percivals 2026

About the Artwork

My life is full—being a dad, teaching, moving house, then moving again, navigating the constant clutter of both physical and mental space. As much as I love my life and family, time and quiet are treasured commodities.

In this context, I’ve carved out a small but comfortable corner of the garage that is entirely my own. When the door closes, the music goes on, and the world is shut out, I become the sole authority of that space.

For me, and I think for most artists, the studio becomes a place of sovereignty. In front of the canvas, in that one space, your word is law. In a world that constantly tries to limit personal power and tell you what to think and how to live, it is an act of sanity and self-determination.

About the Artist

Brisbane-based David Wells is a professional artist and art tutor, with an extensive background across many disciplines of both performing and visual arts. He has exhibited extensively, and his work has been regularly published in international journals, and has featured on the cover of the American publications The Artists Magazine (2009) and The Pastel Journal (2009, 2014).

He has been included in numerous national Art Prizes, including the Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Queen’s Wharf Art Prize, Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize (2013, 2015, 2018), Brisbane Portrait Prize (2021, 2022) and the Lester Prize (2014, 2017, 2025) and was Awarded the Sunshine Coast National Art Prize in 2025. In 2014, his portrait of Her Royal Highness Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was accepted as a gift by the royal family and now hangs in Kensington Palace.