ON Thursday evening, artists, enthusiasts and local supporters gathered at the Hamilton Performing Arts Centre (HPAC) for the long-awaited return of the annual Hamilton Rotary Art Show.

Hamilton Rotary club members filled wine and champagne glasses and conveyed platters of hors d’oeuvres for guests for the preview of over 350 paintings.

Hamilton Rotary Art Show director, Brian Jenkins, welcomed guests, including internationally recognised Hamilton guest artists, husband and wife, Jenni Mitchell and Mervyn Hannan.

“Isn’t it great to be back,” he declared.

Mr Jenkins paid tribute to the hard work of the volunteer Rotary members and guest artists whom he said were “critically important to the success of the event”.

Internationally acclaimed Narrawong wildlife artist, Brett Jarrett, was the Art Show judge and gave a discernible and informative assessment of each of the art competition categories.

“After a couple years lay off it’s been tough for artists, galleries and exhibitions such as this,” he said.

“The plus side has been that a lot of people have decided to try their hand at painting.”

The first award Mr Jarrett announced was Best Work - Any Medium with $2000 awarded to David Hoyt of Penshurst for ‘Detention River near Milabena’.

Clearly the audience was not in disagreement with Mr Jarrett as an audible gasp was heard from the crowd as the drape was lifted and revealed the magnificent painting.

“He’s used oil on canvas and I’m very taken with the realism of this piece,” Mr Jarrett said.

“It’s a gloomy scene with a subtle appearance - the whole painting has a lovely sense of depth.’”

The second category was Best Work - Any Medium - Runner Up with $1000 awarded to Lorraine Burns for her still life entry, ‘Summer Flowering Gum,’.

Mr Jarret said it really was a toss up between the first two pieces.

“This was a really strong piece as well, really traditional with soft edges showing receding,” he said.

The third category was Best Oil or Acrylic with $800 that went to Craig Davy.

“It’s a lovely atmospheric painting,” he said.

“He’s used a very loose style - he’s used enough realism to convince me - he’s done it really well.”

Best Watercolour was awarded to Julie Reason from Glenthompson with an $800 prize for her ‘Feasting on Banksia’.

Mr Jarrett said it was a great water colour using very subtle light; the artist has created depths and shadows that are beautifully done.

“There has been a fair bit of time spent getting the anatomy right,” he said.

 The Best Contemporary Painting - Any Medium and $800 in prize money was awarded to Glen Hoyle for ‘Dressage Rehearsal’ using oil.

“People tend to think contemporary means abstract but (this painting) is modern and of today,” he said.

“The structure, shadows and tones are right - with lovely turquoise and violet and lime green in the grass - that whole combination has worked nicely.”

The next category was Best Painting by a Local Artist - the Chris McDonald Memorial Prize with $800 in prize money which went to Amy Robinson Hoyt, for her oil painting ‘Evening Light at Yatmerone, Penshurst’.

Mr Jarrett said that for him, it was reminiscent of a Russian scene.

“Gloomy light and lovely strong shadows that create a beautiful atmosphere - very organic,” he said.

The next was $500 in prize money for the First Prize - Young Artist Award originally donated by the late Mr Barry and Mrs Stella Downs, continued by the Downs family, which went to Indra for her acrylic depiction titled ‘Climate Change’, an underwater image of the ocean tainted by a coke can.

“This is an issue that obviously a lot of kids are concerned about,” he said.

Mr Jarrett paid tribute to Baimbridge College teacher, Stephen Constantine, who encouraged the school’s students to enter.

Second prize and $250 for the Young Artist Award went to Alicia for her acrylic painting ‘Pensive Girl on the Wall’.

“The young girl is clearly looking into the unknown, you get the sense she is thinking about things.”

Opening hours for the show are Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 10am-3pm.