Mosgiel artist John Toomer continued his successful run at the annual Aspiring Art Awards last night in Wanaka, this time winning first prize for his painting Arcadia Theatre Waimate.
Toomer, who describes his style as contemporary realism, was second in 2010 and won the people's choice award last year.
Being awarded the overall $5000 Aspiring Art Prize was "a wonderful acknowledgment to the style that I'm doing", he said.
Toomer's painting depicts the historic Arcadia Theatre building in Waimate, built between 1905 and 1907 and also known as Quinn's Arcade.
The building's "uniqueness" was what prompted Toomer to paint it.
"It's unlike anything else you see in New Zealand, really. It sort of had to be painted." Judge Alexandra Kennedy, of Dunedin, said the painting was "executed to a high standard technically" and a "number of different themes coalesce in it".
Fellow judge Bing Dawe, of Christchurch, said having lived through the Canterbury earthquakes, when so many old buildings were lost, the painting "emphasises the preciousness of our colonial heritage".
Another painting given by Toomer for a fundraising auction at the awards night raised $2300.
Other winners in the art awards were: Best landscape, Storm Over Banks Peninsula, by Mehrdad Tahan; best work for under $1000, See, Smell, Hear!, by Claudia Recorean; best young artist, The Baby, by Ruby Anderson.
The Aspiring Art Awards are now in their fifth year and are open to South Island artists. The event is a fundraiser for the Holy Family School. An exhibition of the works entered in this year's awards runs from 10am to 4pm daily until Saturday.
