Local landscape wins People's Choice Award at Black Swan Arts Centre

Local artist Annemarie Blake has been chosen as the winner of the People's Choice Award at the Black Swan Arts Centre with her winter landscape of Frome.

Her large monochrome lithograpth drawing of a local landscape captured the most votes from visitors to the Open Arts Competition exhibition which ran until the end of March at the Frome gallery.

From the 91 works exhibited her "Winter Landscape Frome" was chosen by the public and means she walks away with the final prize of the competition – a cheque for £150, sponsored by the Frome Creative Network.

Exhibition organiser Helga Watkins-Baker said: "The response to this year's open competition has been phenomenal. It really has been an exhibition that raised the bar in terms of the standard of work submitted and selected.

"We're very pleased that Annemarie has won the People's Choice Award, as her striking picture really captured the attention of visitors to the gallery."

Annemarie Blake came to the gallery to receive the cheque from Helga, who is also chairperson of Frome Creative Network. Other awards given at the opening night of the exhibition in March included Mary Roe's photograph "Mnemosyne", which won the overall £750 prize from among a record-breaking 546 entries to the competition.

Sophie Lowe's wire sculpture "Chair" won the Bax Award for Fine Arts for £250, and Dorcus Casey was awarded the £250 Frome Town Council award for her mixed media piece "Sow". Craig Askew's "Sea Birds on the Tide Line" painting was chosen by Love Local, which will now sell Craig's work through its online gallery. Robin Tarbet's "Data Block Prints" got a special commendation, and arrangements are currently being made to show his work at a forthcoming exhibition at the gallery.