A WINCHESTER woman has won a prize at a New Forest village art exhibition.

Emma Lowres, a fine arts graduate, won the runner-up prize for her painting, Grey Sky, Buckler's Hard.

The Art of Buckler’s Hard is a show exhibiting paintings selected by judges, who chose their shortlist from nearly 200 competition entries.

The selected paintings were then judged as part of the Montagu Award, which was won by Theresa Forrest. Her painting Family Time just pipped Emma's to the post.

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The Honourable Mary Montagu-Scott (Image: Beaulieu)

Paintings on a tea bag and leaf, a montage of stamps and a wood slice engraving were among more unusual submissions by amateur and professional artists.

Drawings, paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics and textiles showed the natural beauty of Buckler’s Hard on the banks of the Beaulieu River, as well as its maritime past as the village where ships were built for Nelson’s fleet at Trafalgar.

Three winning entries were chosen by Buckler’s Hard director, Mary Montagu-Scott, with Lord Montagu and Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year Monica Popham, whose painting of the village helped her to win her title.

The Montagu Award winner Theresa Forrest, from Sway in the New Forest, created her painting Family Time after completing illustration studies at Bournemouth & Poole College. Her prize is a luxury stay with a three-course dinner for two with sponsor Master Builder’s House. 

Emma, from Winchester, won a £100 gift card to spend with sponsor New Forest Activities for her entry.

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Finally, Dorset amateur artist Bernard Mathysse, from Highcliffe, won third place for capturing Sailing at Dusk in his painting of the riverside village and was awarded a family ticket to Beaulieu.

Their paintings have been put on display alongside artworks from the Montagu family collection and Landscape Artist of the Year semi-finalists’ pictures of Buckler’s Hard. The free exhibition can be seen in the Shipyard Office throughout the summer and until November 3.

Mary Montagu-Scott said: “This new display is all down to these artists, who have brought colour and life to Buckler’s Hard in so many different ways. 

"We feel  these new paintings on display represent a variety of different techniques used from a selection of different mediums and materials.”