George Bevan is an artist of international excellence who is a pride to Sri Lanka. He was born in Negombo and though domiciled in England now, still has his roots firmly embedded in his place of birth and spends half the year in two spells in his island home. In spite of his success as a painter, he wanted to learn more and went back to art school at the age of fifty five developing his skills in colour combinations. He is now known for his exceptional use of colour, and his paintings adorn the walls of connoisseurs of art in Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Japan, India and Australia and the USA and ofcourse Sri Lanka.

Though colour is said to be his forte, his sense of figure drawings and his capability to capture expressions and his flair for movement hugely contribute to the success of his work which is a visual delight that endears them to the lovers of art. This time though his most successful work was a painting of a tall and stately looking man in white and graves, which made the head and shoulders stand out in the dusky oriental hues of a brown skin. To see and be seen was a large gathering of his fans and the many friends he has known through his lifetime, some of whom were requested by his friend and partner for forty years Wolfgang Stange, to light the traditional lamp. Among these were Nihal Ratnaike, Khema de Costa and self among others. Also there were many an artist among whom were Anoma Wijewardene, Marie Alles Fernando, Iromie Wijewardene, and many another celebrity such as Anoja Weerasinghe so impressive with her shaven head, others that come to mind are Suresh Muddanayake (Ashok Ferry) and his wife Mandy, Scott Direksz, Lakshman de Saram and his wife, Chris and Dushy Parakrama, Sharadha de Saram, Neela Marikkar, Dilini de Zoysa, Dion Gomes, Rowena Mendis, Savithri Rodrigo, Anithra Pieris, Tammy Flamer Caldera, Cheryle Fonseka, Malika Cooke, and Ajitha de Costa. Styles worn by the women was as exciting as the pictures on the wall which provided a kaliesdescope of movement and design, so expertly interpreted by a master artist we should all be proud of.

Vibrant saffron silk made the saree Khema contrasted with a black blouse. She wound the fall of the saree around her waist in northern style. A black and white print was Iromie’s choice, a royal blue was the background to springs of gold leaves on Marie’s saree, with Marli in a shot flared kameez top in aquamarine and gold silk. Western styles were favoured by Nazreen Sansoni, Sharadha de Saram, and Cheryle Fonseka.