Art seen: Variety at awards show of a high standard

Julie Jopp takes a look at the latest exhibitions around Dunedin.

Gran's Recipe, by Sue Carey

Edinburgh Realty and the Otago Art Society are hosting the annual Edinburgh Premier Art Awards exhibition at the Otago Art Society, in Dunedin Railway Station.

This competitive exhibition is now in its seventh year and continues to attract artists, both professional and hobbyist, from around the South Island.

As is usually the case, the exhibition encompasses a variety of styles and media from the more than 120 artists represented. Unlike previous years, landscapes are not as prominent, although portraiture, still life, animal and bird studies make their presence felt.

In an exhibition such as this, there is great variability but generally the works are of a high standard. Among the pieces that took my eye were Tama Taita's bold charcoal portrait, Brian Alexander's clever deconstructed figures, Sheila Brown's brightly faceted bird study and Graham Lettice's intricately patterned ink work.

A precise study of bottled beetroot by Sue Carey is of note, as is Brian Stewart's work with angles and reflection, Geoff William's delicately textured charcoal study, Philip Markham's finely worked landscape and Nigel Wilson's impressionistic orchard-scape.

However, it is Jasmine Middlebrook's intricate view of family life that took the top prize with the judge, Marilynn Webb, describing it as ''a loving portrait of a family ... painted by a skilled practitioner''.

Sea Mist, by Angela Burns

Accomplished Dunedin artist Angela Burns paints expansive landscapes - the primary influence on her subject matter.

Painting in an abstract expressionist style, Burns' work is deceptively subtle yet dynamic, spontaneous and full of impact with much of her work large-scale and executed in oil or acrylics.

Burns enjoys the beauty of the local landscape and the changing light and colours of the weather.

The atmosphere and history of the Waitati area with its surrounding sea and landscape is the inspiration behind this body of work with references made to the estuary, the tidal mudflats of Blueskin Bay and the cave-like arches at Doctor's Point Beach as well as the isolated beaches and the presence of old archaeological sites.

These painterly expressions of land and seascape are done with a masterful eye.

Bold textured brushstrokes and a thoughtful colour palette of mainly blues, greys and ochre hues, evoke the feeling of stormy seas, brilliant sunny skies or low-lying fog, evident in Sea Mist.

By using patches of pure colour, layers of paint and thick brush strokes, Burns' paintings are intuitively worked, creating images that are not only full of force but also restful.

By ''suggesting'' rather than describing, the works merely hint at things such as land on the horizon, the clam barges out at sea, the surf hitting the rocks or a sunlit estuary, allowing the viewer to develop their own conclusions.

Study of a pink pelargonium, by Caroline Arch

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery is paying a floral tribute to the 150th anniversary of Dunedin Botanic Garden, using artwork from the gallery's own collection.

The exhibition features flower paintings alongside botanical studies, two exquisite Japanese prints and four etchings of plants with bees and butterflies by Katherine Cameron as well as items from the gallery's decorative arts collection, demonstrating the way flowers as decoration and adornment have entered the domestic and personal spheres.

Painted in the 19th century, the botanical studies on display were specifically for scientific study and painted in watercolour, the traditional medium for this particular genre of meticulous illustration.

Each of the works captures the minute details of texture and colour differences, allowing each plant to be recognised and distinguished from other species, such as seen in Study of a pink pelargonium.

The studies have a blank backdrop to emphasise their beauty and eliminate visual confusion.

Unlike botanical studies, the goal of flower paintings is aesthetics and a concern for compositional values, with accuracy not always necessary or intended.

This part of the exhibition includes work from notable late 19th and early 20th century Dunedin artists Alfred O'Keefe, Kathleen Salmond and Margaret Stoddart.

Most of the images displayed are of flowers carefully arranged in vases, with Kathleen Salmond's Tulips for Market catching the eye on entering the gallery.