There was a cake, there was cross-stitch, there was music, there was digital art, there were paintings.
The winners of the inaugural Greasybalds art prize were announced at Grease Monkey in Braddon on Thursday and the 127 entries ran the gamut of artistic endeavour.
Each entry had to be inspired by the Grease Monkey brand, with the winner being Canberra animator Liam Pope, a graduate of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, who now works for Wildbear entertainment.
His 30-second animation Cheers! was "a celebration of celebrations", inspired by "Australia's favourite pastime, good bevs with good people".
The 24-year-old was emotional as he was announced the winner by Arts Minister Tara Cheyne, receiving the $3000 first prize, which he planned to put towards an online course to further his skills - and shout his mates a few beers as well.
"Honestly, I was thinking about how I would be able to speak without cracking up," he said.
"I was ecstatic."
Liam, who lives in Gungahlin, counts Grease Monkey as his local.
"It's my mum's favourite too," he said.
Grease Monkey owner Nick Tuckwell loved the idea of the art competition to unearth Canberra talent and further engage his homegrown business with the community.
Mr Tuckwell said COVID had made the past two to three years very difficult for hospitality, but Grease Monkey had survived thanks to the loyalty of its customers.
He, like the judges, was blown away by the quality and number of the artworks.
"It was so difficult to choose," he said.
The minor prize winner was Martin Vant, who received $1500 for his digitally-drawn artwork, a "melting pot of the food and drinks from Grease Monkey" with Canberra icons, from a bus shelter to Braddon roundabout thrown in.
Runner-up was a cake made by Michael Steele, who received a $750 Grease Monkey voucher.
The 42-year-old youth worker spent three days making the cake which featured a burger, hot dog, chips and chicken wings.
Highly commended were Danielle O'Reilly for her mixed media work and Nathan Garrard for his digital artwork. They also received vouchers.
The other judges were local artist James Manning and The Canberra Times food critic Chris Hansen.
Tara Cheyne said the government was happy to support events such as the Greasybalds which celebrated local artists in innovative ways.
"The calibre was out of this world," she said.
