Paul Jensen's artistic take on Sydney's infamous King's Cross won the Images of the Cross competition run by Darlinghurst's Tap Gallery.

Jensen, who works in oils, has painted dozens of pictures of the down and out characters who live on the streets of King's Cross.  "There are heaps of interesting people," says Jensen, who lived in the area for seven years. "Go sit in a cafe down one of the alleyways, and you will see more in an hour than you will ever see on a TV show."

His winning painting is of a shop owner Adis, who for decades ran a bookstore specialising in second-hand pornography.  Adis closed his shop last year, one of the many to go as the rich and famous move into the once rundown inner city suburb.

Along with the images of Kings Cross, Jensen paints nudes, abstract works and landscapes from his original hometown on the Taranaki coastline in New Zealand.  "Sometimes I might not paint for two weeks and then I will paint all day not stopping for 24 hours, just wanting to get something finished."

A keen surfer, many of his landscapes are of the rocks and ocean at Stent Road and Rocky Point.  "I think I paint so much of home to get over some sort of homesickness."

Jensen now lives in Manyana on the NSW South Coast where he gets to surf the point break at Green Island.  This beautiful area features in his new works.

Jensen has previously worked as a graphic designer and set painter and has been painting since he was a child.  He completed stints at design schools in Wellington and Christchurch.  He has never held an exhibition, but his paintings are recommended by word of mouth and adorn walls in homes across Australia, New Zealand, Rarotonga and the United Kingdom.