We are pleased to announce that Elizabeth McCarten is the winner of the Jackson’s Young Artist Award in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition.
Elizabeth McCarten’s 76x56cm watercolour painting ‘The Boboli Gardens’ was selected by the judges from over 1,000 entries. The 2017 judging panel comprised Sarah Long, Director of Long and Ryle Gallery; Kathryn Maple, artist and 2016 First Prize Winner; Louis Wise, critic and writer for The Sunday Times and Andrew Wilton, Visiting Research Fellow at Tate Britain.
Royal Drawing School graduate Elizabeth McCarten says that “living in a complex and urban environment, my work often stems from a desire to find freedom, space and simplicity. Finding and connecting to places by creating emotive responses are central to my painting process.” The artist recently completed a residency at Borgo Pignano in Italy where she was able to travel to Florence and make a series of works, including her prizewinning watercolour painting.
Elizabeth McCarten, The Boboli Gardens, watercolour, 76 x 56 cm
Now in its 30th year, The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition is the largest and most prestigious showcase of contemporary watercolour painting in the UK. The competition aims to celebrate and reward excellence and originality in the medium of watercolour. Whether the work is abstract or figurative, contemporary or traditional, the competition aims to celebrate and redefine the beauty and diversity of watercolour and water-based media. It offers a First Prize of £10,000, the Jackson’s Young Artist Award of £500 worth of vouchers towards artist materials, and the St Cuthberts Mill Prize for an outstanding work on paper (worth £250).
The First Prize of £10,000, has this year been awarded to Richard Fowler, for Portishead, a vibrant painting which is part of a wider series of work exploring the effects of natural forces on man-made structures. The artist has utilised cut paper ‘masks’ with stencil brushes of various sizes to achieve the sharp edges and textures of corroding steel and decaying wood. Speaking of the work, Fowler says “…the sunlight falling on the rusting steel, contrasting with the intense blue of the sky gives the image a somewhat surreal and sinister quality whilst the stark outlines and rugged shapes are reminiscent of an ancient castle or coastal fortification.”
Richard Fowler, Portishead, acrylic on canvas board, 68x53cm
The St Cuthberts Mill prize for an outstanding work on paper, worth £250, was awarded to Annie Williams for her watercolour, Still Life with a Small Spanish Bowl. Abstraction meets representation in this dynamic work which is occupied by beautiful prussian blue, cerulean and ultramarine tones. Speaking of the subject matter, the artist said “most of my chosen objects are pots – I have a sister and friends who are potters, so have acquired quite a number over the years. I love their shapes and colours.”
Annie Williams, Still Life with a Small Spanish Bowl, watercolour, 58x67cm
The Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition
Seventy-eight works have been selected from a total of 1057 submissions. The shortlisted works will be shown in The Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition which runs from 19 – 24 September 2017 at Mall Galleries, London before touring to Trowbridge Arts (11 November – 23 December 2017) and Guildford House Gallery (13 January – 10 March 2018).
The shortlisted artists are: Alex Maczkowski, Alison Boult, Anastasia Shimshilashvili, Anne McAulay Edmond, Annie Williams, Camilla Dowse, Caroline Kent, Catherine Ducker, Chris Baker, Christopher Green, Claire Sparkes, Daphne Gradidge, David A Parfitt RI, David Brayne, David Greenwood, David Shuttleton, Debbie Ayles, Delia Cardnell, Dennis Roxby Bott, Doug Patterson, Elizabeth McCarten, Emma Haworth, Esme Dollow, Fay Brown, Frank Kiely, Gary Groucutt, Geoff Butterworth, Gertie Young, Greg Becker, Hannah Turner-Duffin, Hilary Rosen, Howard Flanagan, Ian Sidaway, Ingrid Greenfield, Irene Lafferty, Janet Kenyon, Janis Fry, John Hunt, Josh Crowe, Judith Logan, Karen Bowers, Kate Evans, Leo Davey, Lillias August, Louise de la Hey, Mark Elsmore, Mark Fielding, Martin Leman, Martin Spanyol, Max Boyla, Michael Williams, Michelle Cioccoloni, Patrick Shart, Paul Gadenne, Peter Quinn, Rachael Grimm, Rachel Ross, Rebecca Harper, Richard Fowler, Rika Newcombe, Robbie Wraith, Robert McKenzie, Robert Offord, Robin Storey, Roger Allen, Sally Lawson, Sarah Wimperis, Sophie Charalambous, Stephanie Tuckwell, Stephen Earl Rogers, Suman Kaur, Sylvia Alice Robertson, Teresa Lawler, Tom Caley, Varsha Bhatia, Victoria Dale, Vincent Spain, Ziling Wang.
You can see the shortlisted images from the last few years on The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition website.
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