No. 69 "Inverted Y with Red Arrow" - Theo Petrie

It has a very nice sense of energy, and a confidence in the way the marks are placed and then left there. I would assume that this work is a result of a long series of experimentations which, although they are not present, I sense that they exist. I feel this work is unselfconsciously constructed.

No. 37 "Day By Day - Watching Water Wash Stones Away" - Mandy Hopkins

I think the idea is an interesting one. There is quite a nice sensitivity in the material handling and there's also, I think, evidence of a struggle to allow these images to emerge from behind the canvas. I think the variety of mark within each panel makes the work quite diverse but the restraint in colour usage gives the work a strong cohesiveness.

No. 22 "Dry Lake in an Outback Landscape" - Deirdre Edwards

I think with this one, although it appears as a landscape, it looks to me like a map and I think the artist has mapped the page with each mark, and each mark looks very considered.

No. 29 "Tourists" - George Eustice

I'm not sure if the work is meant to be a humourous one, but for me, the work is poised between humour and irony and the fact that it's called "Tourists" and the tourist is looking away from the environment. I think the colour handling is very good, and the energy in the mark making is commendable also. It's got a humility which I really like.

No. 44 "Between Two Seas" - Robert Lee

There is a sense of time and patience in this work, it's a quite work and there is an interesting use in the variety of materials. The gauze makes me think of bandaging and the holes of wounds, and the stitching seems to be some kind of healing process. It's got implications of environmental issues.

Highly Commended awards