This year's exhibition is a diverse and powerful exhibition with a much greater emphasis on message and content than is usually found in award or acquisition exhibitions.

A great deal of strongly emotive work in dark tones is interspersed among the more expected works of rural imagery and brightly colourful, even humorous pieces, suggesting a 'from one extreme to the other' undercurrent going on in artists' minds.

Several works by artists unconnected to each other displayed a kind of 'before and after' scenario.  One miniature oil, After the Storm by Jane Kos is an example of 'before' contrasting strongly in every way with Oh My Poor Child by Sally Marston.  The former is a beautifully executed little landscape of a hillside, with colours as bright and refreshed as the title suggests.  The latter is a large textural landscape in dark tones and roughly executed showing apparently the same hillside, devastated.  It is a strong emotional piece, not normally found in these types of exhibitions.

Many works in the oil/acrylic section are modern abstracts relying on their titles to get the message across but nonetheless rather interesting to find in a rural gallery.  They are somewhat disquieting, displaying a strong emotional negativism.  Again, a contrast to works in other media can be seen, as most of the other sections involve images that are bold, colourful, humorous and full of the joy of life.

The winning entry in the oil/acrylic section, The Spirit of Lusitania by Ian Hill, is a detailed and beautifully executed mixed media painting that includes painted etched metal and heavy impasto in blues and oranges which, despite the strong colour, is a spiritual piece, as the title suggests.

A small but strong printmaking section displays the various approaches to the artform, including unique state monoprints, acid etching, drypoint, and the winning entry, an embossed collograph by Janet Elliot entitled Gone Fishing, which shows a range of textures and is rather humorous.

Overall, this an interesting exhibition showing an unusual range of work of strong contrasts and very little 'middle of the road' content.