The 77th annual exhibition held by Exmouth Art Group in October has proven to be another resounding success, with many awards presented and a significant sum raised for this year's chosen charity.

The event, which took place in the glamorous second floor event suite at Ocean on Exmouth seafront from 13-26 October, saw 332 framed artworks, hundreds of art cards and folios including affordable originals and prints and a large range of 3D creations, alongside a wonderful display by Exmouth Ceramic Group. The stage also showcased some excellent large pieces by students from Exmouth Community College.

This year's guest judge was Anna Brewster, a local expressive watercolour and mixed media artist who works and teaches at Umborne Bridge Studio in Colyton. Anna spent a day reviewing all the artwork and managed to choose her top three winners as well as ten highly commended pieces from the overwhelming collection. First place was awarded to Margaret Gitsham with her evocative painting 'Field of Dreams'; second place was Cherrill Bailey with 'Beached'; and third place went to Michael Norman with 'Turf Locks'. Anna was so impressed with the professional quality of the exhibition and the pieces in it and marvelled at the wide range of mediums and techniques used, demonstrating the diverse and inspiring art group that the members are a part of.

Art Group President, Doug Gilding, expressed his delight at a bumper year of visitors and sales, saying "this year's exhibition was a great success: a revised layout allowed all the paintings to be exhibited from the outset, and the Exmouth Ceramic Group to participate and complement the 3D work. Significantly, the improved electronic payment system with a slick back-office system which bar-coded all works, meant it was effectively a 'pop-up gallery' in the luxurious Ocean Suite location. Sales figures reflected these improvements."

Last year's public vote winner, Linda Bartlett, had the honour of selecting the charity to benefit from the proceeds of this year's raffle, and chose the local branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), and donated an original painting for the top raffle prize. Many hampers were also up for grabs and helped to raise a significant £1,500 for this very deserving charity.

The winner of this year's public vote was local professional artist, Rebecca de Mendonca, with her pastel painting of Camargue horses in 'A Ride on the Beach'. Rebecca was overjoyed to receive the Channel Cup trophy and said: "I am feeling so honoured to have won the Visitors Choice Award at the Exmouth Art Group 2023 Exhibition with my painting of Camargue riders on the beach. Art can help us in so many ways, and this group illustrates that on many levels. The youngest member exhibiting in the exhibition is aged 12, so the future is bright and arty in Exmouth. One of the things that I love about living in Devon is that nearly every town and village seems to have a group of people who meet regularly to produce art. The Exmouth group is thriving, with professional and leisure artists as members. The exhibition has been so well planned, presented and attended, it is all done to an extremely high standard. There is a team of very hard-working volunteers behind it all."

Liz Swift, the volunteer exhibition coordinator, summed up the event: "I am absolutely delighted with this year's exhibition, with a record attendance of over 2,000 visitors and an absolute buzz throughout with plenty of sales. Many of our new members have exhibited this year and we have attracted a good number of people joining the group, so next year will bring even more talent to the exhibition. Congratulations to everyone and thanks to all who contributed artwork and help throughout. It was a delight to be able to hand over a cheque to the local MND charity for £1500 thanks to the generosity of the public."

Save the date for next year's 78th art exhibition, which will no doubt be another delightful and successful event – 10th to 21st October.

More images on https://www.exmouthartgroup.co.uk/exhibitions