THEY say a picture is worth a thousand words.

But for artist Gerald Dewsbury, it was worth a thousand pounds.

His oil painting, Catspaws off the Land, took first place in the annual North Wales Open Art Exhibition at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold, winning him the cash prize.

The exhibition, now in its 30th year, features more than 160 exhibits from paintings to drawings and collages to mixed media, and has attracted entries from professional and amateur artists across North Wales.

Gerald, from Corwen, was elected a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art in 2003 and completed a series of six landscapes commissioned by the Sultan of Oman for his new home in Muscat in 2005.

Catspaws off the Land shows a mountainous landscape with a choppy sea in the foreground. Gerald said: “I moved to North Wales in search of a wilder and more varied landscape from which I continue to draw constant inspiration.”

Taking second prize was Jeremy Yates from Bethesda, Gwynedd, for his acrylic painting, Lachrymose Woodland, which depicts a dark woodland scene with a view through to a light clearing.

Third prize was claimed by Joel Wynne, from Greenfield, for his oil painting, Taid’s Shed, which was produced in a painterly style using a palette knife.

Judging was Simon Carter, senior partner at Aaron and Partners LLP Solicitors, Chester, which is sponsoring the exhibition for the fourth consecutive year.

The exhibition runs until August 12 in the Oriel gallery at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold.
Pieces are available to buy and range in price from £100 to £3,600.

See www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk for more information.