River City Artists winners with judge Dennis Clark at prizegiving.
PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS
Three years since their inception, River City Artists have had their first art competition.
Divided into Senior and Novice sections, the work was judged by local father and son artists Dennis and Nolan Clark.
"With this first competition we've decided to up the game a little bit," says club president, Val Donkervoort.
She chose the judges from the Artists Open Studios guide.
"We were looking for someone with a complete cross section of work. These guys do everything," says Val.
"The work was up to a good standard," says Nolan.
"Even with those just starting [novice] you can see there's talent there that needs to be built up," says Dennis. He says working in a group enables novices to learn from and be encouraged by the more experienced artists. There are 14 in the group, meeting every Thursday from 9am to 4pm in large, air conditioned premises attached to Christ Church in Wicksteed St.
Val says the group often has outings to places of artistic interest — like the wrecker's yard at Horipito — or to visit out-of-town art groups and galleries. She has also booked Dennis and Nolan for a workshop next year.
Nolan says they were looking at technique when they judged the competition.
"Because we're teachers we tend to concentrate on techniques, and obviously, applying those techniques well." They were also looking for variety.
Dennis says they judge according to the level of experience, using different criteria for Novice and Senior sections.
