Ward won with her work in mixed media.

Her caustic wax paint depicted the drought. After her win, selected from 120 entries, she took time to reflect on autumn’s colours.

The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting day time temperatures to exceed 30 degrees, with a possibility of 36 today, a far cry from typical autumn weather in the New England. 

Temperatures at night are expected to drop to between 12 and 15 degrees.

Despite the chance of rain over the week and into the weekend the fire danger rating for the region is still high.