Precisely, drawing from the the past, he had Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World) in his mind. Courbet’s 1866 oil painting of a woman’s figure showing her genitals and abdomen, and a single bare breast, created a firestorm at the time that’s been part of the erotic painting’s history to this day.

Gardiner’s nude began as a large image in his mind, dominating the canvas, but she gradually became smaller and smaller, eventually overtaken by a dark, mysterious Australian forest with glints of light.

The nude lays on her back, legs spread and bent at the knees, face not showing. She is like Courbet’s woman; an adult, erotic, symbolic, with no hint of emotional modesty.

There is much detail in the forest - trees, branches, detritus. And there is a clue of another person present, perhaps watching the woman.

The three judges of the 2016 Kilgour Prize were unanimous in their appreciation of Gardiner’s entry. On Friday night it was announced as the winner, Gardiner picking up the $50,000 prize.

The painting was described by judges as “triumphant” and a “painter’s painting; with a shifting complex imagery that references Western art history and the nuances of European painting tradition, particularly the work of Courbet and Australian colonial painting.”

“It is a painting as much about light as it is about certain kinds of terrain, and the metaphorical landscape,” says  Newcastle Art Gallery manager Lauretta Morton, one of the three Kilgour Prize judges along with Art Gallery of NSW curatorial consultant Deborah Edwards and University of NSW drawing lecturer Peter Sharp.

“In it the artist puts a very sophisticated technical handling to the service of a painterly result which is unsettling and unexpected.”

Gardiner, of Tighes Hill, is the first Newcastle resident to win the Kilgour since Dallas Bray won it in 2008 and 2010.

“Like a lot of my paintings, it sort of grew organically from an initial idea of having a figure in the Australian bush, in what I sort of see as like a fairly dark, hostile environment, and that sort of contrasted with the innocent, openness of the figure,” Gardiner says.

“There is a history of Australian artists painting people lost in the bush, it’s an idea in films and stories, like Picnic at Hanging Rock. 

“All of these things flash in your mind while  you are painting.

“Further back, there is the Courbet work, an explicit, erotic picture. But he’s also making a comment on women and motherhood, the whole nurturing side of things.

“I thought that was an interesting counterpoint, particularly as the picture grew. There was that air of innocence and this sort of sinister figure in the background. Your mind is popping along as you are painting.”

For Gardiner, the possibility of another person in the painting adds intrigue.

“Are they a watcher, a passer-by, or her lover?” he poses the question.

“I don’t know.”

The glass frame on the front of the painting is another device – not commonly used by Gardiner. 

“It’s sort of a [Francis] Bacon thing,” Gardiner says. “You put yourself in the view [through reflection]. Your gaze is in the view as well.”

Is it erotic? Or exotic? Or the epitome of innocence? That’s not Gardiner’s decision.

“I leave it for the viewer,” he says. “Some artists are pretty didactic, they want to tell people what they think. I sort of present a space, a space for people to be in front of.  Usually when people come up and ask me what the painting is about, I start them off, and then it becomes a dialogue. 

“It’s a bit like asking a bird what it’s like to fly. It’s very hard for an artist.”

There were more than 200 entries for the Kilgour Prize this year, as Newcastle Art Gallery moved it up on the calendar, looking for a “sweet spot” in the world of art prizes. The field included several established, award-winning artists such as Michael Zavros (winner of the 2016 Mosman Art Prize), Heidi Yardley (2016 Archibald Prize finalist), Robert Malherbe (2016 Wynne Prize finalist) and Wendy Sharpe (2016 Sulman Prize finalist).

For Gardiner, a previous Wynne Prize finalist, it was his second success at making the finals of the Kilgour. The first time was in 2008 (won by Dallas Bray). Gardiner tells the story: “It was a large painting called Town Meeting, full of Bruegelesque figures running around like nutcases. I had to carry it in to the gallery from Tighes Hill on a breezy day as I couldn't get a van for some reason … I virtually flew into town with it. It was hung in the prize and I was grateful for that.”

Gardiner’s 2016 winning entry, titled Origin/Landscape, was literally painted in one long day, as the artist became immersed in his seed of an idea and pushed through.

The woman in the painting is based on a real person, but Gardiner declines to say who.

When he got the call to say he had won the Kilgour, he was temporarily speechless. While he is a full-time artist, he is grateful for the prize money and recognition.

“Winning an art prize is like winning the lottery,” he says. “Mostly you enter prizes just to get them on the wall, to get them seen, to get a reaction to it. And when you win one it’s a huge bonus. It takes a bit of the heat off, the money does. And it’s an endorsement of what you do.”

The Kilgour is even sweeter, coming from Newcastle Art Gallery.

“It is special because Newcastle gallery was the first public institution to collect my work,” he says. “It’s really nice to be on the list of Kilgour winners. I think the Kilgour will only get better and better. It was the first one to show interest in me. It’s special, to be part of the Kilgour story.”

Gardiner’s work appears to reflect an artist who is not afraid of the dark side. True to form, his Kilgour winner hints at mystery and darkness. It’s a recurring theme in his work, as is his nod to great artists of the past.

In 2011 he won the Caleen Art Award at Cowra Regional Gallery. Judge Deborah Ely said at the time, “Peter Gardiner’s Landscape 2010 Number VIII dips its hat to the Spanish masters Valezquez and Goya and to the traditions of landscape painting, but takes them to another place. The viewer becomes involved in a dark narrative that hints at an evolving, indecipherable, drama.”

In 2014 Gardiner entered a portrait of former Newcastle Art Gallery director Ron Ramsey in the Archibald Prize. The painting did not make the Archibald finals, but was chosen to be shown in the almost-as-prestigious Salon des Refuses at SH Erwin Gallery in Sydney.

Ramsey was controversially dismissed that year, but sat for Gardiner’s portrait through the troubled times. It too, is a dark work, reflecting drama.

“I’m not a figurative painter, by and large,” Gardiner says. “But when prizes like this [Kilgour] come along, and the Gallipoli Prize, that have a specific criteria, it gets you outside of your comfort zone.”

Gardiner was a finalist in the Gallipoli in 2014, 2013 and 2012.

“I like a lot of styles and modes of expression, but I guess my practice tends towards a more dark romantic expression, but that could change at anytime.”Gardiner says.

Gardiner is the second Newcastle painter to win the Kilgour in its short history. The first Kilgour Prize was won by Nicholas Harding in 2006. Dallas Bray, of Newcastle, won it in 2008 and 2010. After a brief hiatus, the prize recommenced as an annual competition, with Alan Jones winning 2014 and Janelle Thomas winning in 2015.

Since the Kilgour became an annual award the prize money has been boosted to $50,000 for the winner. The winner of the People’s Choice, voted by the public, receives $5000.

Jack Noel Kilgour, who bequeathed the funds for the creation of the prize, was an Australian artist known for his academic approach to landscape and portrait painting. He died in 1987.

The public can vote for the People’s Choice in the Kilgour at Newcastle Art Gallery or at Civic Digest cafe in the Civic Theatre. The public can also vote online for the People’s Choice at the Newcastle Herald website (theherald.com.au) through the Kilgour Prize link.

The show runs through November 13 at Newcastle Art Gallery.