THE Rotary Club of Numurkah’s 40th art and craft exhibition, held over the long weekend, has been hailed a huge success.

The exhibition attracted outstanding entries from around Australia, with club president Lorraine Greenwood telling those at Friday’s well attended opening night they would be amazed and inspired by the outstanding array of exhibits.

Looking around the town hall, it was difficult to argue with her.

In his opening speech, Jeff Buzza from the event’s major sponsor Numurkah Home Timber and Hardware told the audience that he had been reflecting on why art is important and concluded that it’s because each work revealed a little about the artist and maybe what they felt and we might learn a bit more about how other people see the world and be better off for it.

“Looking at the entries, some are pleasant, some are spectacular and some even confronting,” he said.

Rotary District Governor Brian Peters spoke on the work of Rotary, locally and internationally, mentioning the Polio Plus campaign to eradicate polio in the world.

He said it was his first visit to the annual exhibition, and he was very impressed by the quality of the work on display and the hard work that had obviously gone into preparing the event.

Art judge Ben Winspear praised the exhibition as being one of the best regional art shows.

He told the Leader that there was a lot of good work on display, and something for everyone.

“The beauty of art is how it affects you,” he said.

“As a judge, I try to find a balance between how the work affects me and the technical merits of each piece. I go on what I believe is a good drawing, painting or photograph.

“Judging isn’t easy, but I do enjoy it, and I like to see what other people are doing.”

Craft judge Claire Reid said, whilst there may have been slightly fewer craft entries than last year, there was a good range and quality.

“You can also see there is lots of discussion going on. People are standing and talking about the pieces and that’s really good,” she said. 

Announcing the winning entries, Ben commented on each art work and why he chose it.

Best in Show was awarded to last year’s judge Ross Paterson’s Tumut River, which Ben said had everything going for it.

“It has clean colours, accurate tones, a semi-panoramic composition coming together in a synergy that I found compelling. It was impossible to find a better painting.”

Runner-up was awarded to Glenn Hoyle’s Sunset in Venice.

“The beautiful harmony of this well composed work kept me coming back for a second and third look,” Ben said.

Best Watercolour was awarded to Linda Bryan’s First Light, with Ben saying the simplification and design were what initially drew him to this work.

Best Oil went to Forgotten Ledge by Geoffrey Smith, which Ben said made the ordinary, extraordinary.

“This is one of my favourite subjects,” he said.

Deborah Lynch was awarded Best Pastel for Winter Sunrise. 

“It’s painted not only with skill and a knowledge of the medium, but also with plenty of feeling and sensitivity too,” Ben said of the work.

Best Pencil was awarded to Boots by John Stevens, with Ben saying he’s always pleased when he sees a well executed drawing like this, with very good tonal control, composition and a well developed technique.

Best Regional Artist was Judith Waite with Galahs.

“This one I chose because of the artist’s unusual and clever composition of the galahs flying across the canvas like musical notes. Lots of movement accurately portrayed,” Ben said.

The Moira Arts & Culture Inc. Encouragement Award was awarded to Bev Williams for Tradescantia and Tiny Blue Dragonfly, which Ben said was a delightful little watercolour study of the natural world, painted with care and intricate detail.

The Photographic Award went to Bridge in Smoke by Adrienne West, which Ben called a  work full of intrigue and mood, in which the photographer has pushed the medium and subject almost to abstraction. 

Claire Reid congratulated the craft entrants on the quality of their work.

She awarded Best Craft Entry and Best Quilt to A Country Journal by Yvonne Visser, with Patricia Grotaers’ Dragon Quilt receiving second place in the quilt category. 

The Fibres, Threads or Beads Award went to Shona Thomas with Purple Lace Shawl, and the Framed Needlework Award was awarded to Jenny Barnes with Noah.

The Craft Award was received by Tonina Hore for Mosaic Tile, and Australiana Award was Koala crochet blanket by Jenny Barnes.

Overall, with art and craft sales, kitchen sales, raffle tickets and door entry, the exhibition took a total of $20,953.55.

Rotary exhibition committee member Lou Hamon said that, although expenses including hall hire, advertising, printing, as well as reimbursement to artists for paintings sold, less the club’s commission, still needed to be paid, it was a good result. 

“Sale of 46 paintings was excellent and exceeded my expectations,” he said.

“Although we sold a record 54 last year, considering the economic climate, 46 is a great result.

“A rule of thumb is if you sell 10% you are doing okay. So with nearly 300 entries we exceeded that.”