Although, at first glance, the winning sculpture looks like an aggressive dog, it has a strong message. 

Paul Dimmer, a self-taught sculptor from Long Beach, used his experience with depression to sculpt the Black Dog (The Mongrel’s Back). 

“Years ago, when I was working

in a full-time job, I had a bout of depression,” Mr Dimmer said.

“It wasn’t anything major, but I know what it is like. 

“A fair proportion of the population has suffered from some form of depression, at some time.

“Most of us, luckily, get over it.

“This work is inspired by that experience.”

Pieces of sharply pointed metal were randomly cut and welded into the sculpture. 

“I was after a dog that had a very spiky appearance, as (in) being hard to handle,” Mr Dimmer said. 

“I wanted to make it savage and aggressive, but also cowardly. 

“That’s what I think of depression – it is all those things. 

“There are contradictions there, but that is how I look at it.”

The winning artwork took Mr Dimmer a week to make in his workshop. 

“I submitted it to the Basil Sellers’ exhibition, but it was rejected,” he said. 

“I ran into Sue Barford (River of Art chairwoman) at the Moruya Markets and she said ‘are you going to enter the art prize?’. 

“I thought I had missed the entry time, but they extended it, so I put it in. 

“I was lucky I did.”

Mr Dimmer is now working on a constrasting sculpture. 

“I am making a dancer out of steel,” he said. 

“The legs are all made out of perfect circles. 

“I measured it up and then had to use the Pythagoras theorem to get the diameter of the circles, to get the taper of the leg.”

In all three of Mr Dimmer’s workshops – for timber, metal and painting – notes are attached to blackboards.

“I write all my ideas on there,” he said. 

“Some of them never get made, because a better idea will come along. 

“I like to make a lot of my work out of scrap metal. 

“I am arty-farty.”