Raelene Sharp (b. 1957), artist, was born in Melbourne and began her career as a graphic artist in advertising. A regular finalist in portrait prizes, her portrait of actor John Wood won the Archibald Packing Room Prize in 2012. Sharp is a seven-time finalist in the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, winning in 2006 with a self-portrait. She has also had works hung in the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, the James Farrell Self Portrait Award and Melbourne's Hidden Faces of the Archibald Prize. Her portrait subjects include newsreader Jennifer Keyte, television chef Iain Hewitson, comedian Mark Mitchell, neuroscientist Fred Mendelsohn, virologist Ruth Bishop, actors Ben Mendelsohn and Gary Sweet, athlete Raelene Boyle and singer Russell Morris. A member of Portrait Artists Australia, Sharp paints corporate and family portraits on commission. Her painting of Professor Suzanne Cory, now in the National Portrait Gallery collection, was a finalist in the 2016 Portia Geach Memorial Award.
