A NEWPORT based artist has won the Picton Castle West Wales Summer Art Exhibition. The £1,000 prize was awarded to Helen Beazley from Penrallt Studio, whose painting was selected from over 130 entries in the first Summer Art Exhibition to be organised by Picton Castle. The competition attracted amateur and professional artists from all over West Wales and the work submitted reflected the theme of the competition which was 'PEACE'. Helen's paintings Peace 1, 2 and 3 portray her experiences from travelling, living abroad and being caught up in conflict zones. The work represents her interest in creating paintings of old windows and the view that war and terror will ultimately be overtaken by nature, art and literature. Neville Weston, a practising artist and art critic, judged the competition with Susie Philipps from The Picton Castle Trust. Mr. Weston commented: "The standard of entry was particularly high and it was extremely difficult to judge and indeed exclude any of the work. "But a small group of works presented themselves as potential prize winners and these we noted as being highly commended," he added. Sixty-seven paintings were finally selected for the exhibition which is on show in The Picton Gallery throughout July and August. The highly commended artists were: David Yeomans, Melinda Wood, Geoff Beck and Steven Wilson. More information on the exhibition is available by calling 01437 751326 or by visiting http://www.pictoncastle.co.uk">www.pictoncastle.co.uk