None of the paintings will be visible until the official unveiling, meaning all the subjects will be a surprise. The Gloucester Locals: Portraits of Faces You May Know competition is modeled on Dungog's Archies competition, which has locals paint locals and on opening night the covered paintings are unveiled one by one to add a bit of excitement.

So, GAS decided to adopt the idea with a competition open to any artists in the MidCoast Council region, with the stipulation being that the subject must be living in the 2422 postcode. The hope is the exhibition will create an interest in the community at the prospect of seeing themselves, friends or neighbours reflected in an artist's interpretation.

GAS member, Jean Buettel said the idea is to get local people to sit or have the artist work from a photograph they've taken.

"As I love painting portraits, I thought it might get some locals, who are not already in the art society and paint at home and around their work commitments, to get involved," Jean said.

As it is a competition, there are prizes up for grabs. First prize is $1000 sponsored by Lindy Dupree @ World Marketing, Travel and Tours and the Gloucester Book Shop, second prize is $350 sponsored by Gloucester School of Arts and the junior prize is $100 sponsored by GAS.

The exhibition will be held at the Gloucester Gallery from February 4 to 23, 2020, with the official unveiling to take place on Thursday, February 6 from 6.30pm.

Expressions of interest are now being taken by GAS and need to be registered by 30 November via email to Jean jbuettel@gmail.com or Tracy Murrell at bartra@bigpond.com. Cost of entry is $15 each with a limit of three per artist. Junior entry ages are 12 to 18 years with an entry cost of $5 each with a limit of three.