GARRY Foye's Liverpool City Art Prize winning entry is deeply personal.

His charcoal drawing, Capertee Elegy #9 - Valley of Sorrows, won the $10,000 acquisitive first prize, beating 650 entries from artists across Australia.

The drawing is the ninth in a series of 15, and expresses Foye's childhood memories of living at Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley, west of the Blue Mountains.

He said during the time when the valley's shale mine was producing kerosene, there were a lot of unsafe work practices which resulted in accidents even deaths.

``The gully as a place to grow up was great for a young boy,'' Foye said.

``But despite its fleeting moments of laughter and happiness, at least from my own perspective, when one remembers the pain inflicted on the environment and the poverty that was rife among the inhabitants of Glen Davis, this was in reality the valley of sorrows.''

He has been working on the series for 15 years.

``The only things I used on this drawing were charcoal and an eraser and there was no planned composition it sort of just came together,'' Foye said.

Foye, who now lives in Denistone East, has won more than 30 art prizes and awards, including the Liverpool Art Prize three times before.

He has held 11 solo exhibitions and set up the Garry Foye mentor program for advanced and emerging artists to teach budding students how to use their abilities.

His winning artwork is now on display at Casula Powerhouse.