AN artist from Pembrokeshire has been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, the UK’s leading competition for contemporary British representational and figurative painting and drawing.
The artist is Cherry Pickles from Haverfordwest for her oil on linen, A487.
Eighty artists have been shortlisted for the prize out of 1,100 who entered this year’s competition. This represents the highest level of entries in the prize’s 12-year history.
The eventual winners will be selected from these works and announced on March 6 at an evening event at the Mall Galleries.
Ian Rowley, chairman of the organising committee, said: “We’re delighted by this very positive response to the prize. At a time when British representational art is in danger of losing its way and being ignored by much of the art establishment, this shows the tremendous desire among artists to capture and shed light upon the real world.”
The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize for figurative and representational art - art that seeks to capture the real world - offers total prize money of £30,000, comprising a first prize of £15,000 and a gold medal, second prize of £4,000 alongside the newly introduced People’s Prize worth £2,000. Young artists aged 25-or-under compete for the Young Artist Award of £4,000.
For the third year running, the competition is also offering the Brian Botting Prize of £5,000. This will be awarded to an artist aged 30-or-under for an outstanding representation of the human figure.
The competition is open to any artist, professional or amateur, resident in the UK and painting or drawing works of figurative or representational art and over 18-years-old. The competition aims to promote and support fresh new talent.
Created in 2005 by The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and The Lynn Foundation, the open competition continues to champion the skill of draughtsmanship and figurative painting. The exhibition aims to reflect the breadth of approaches and materials from across the artistic spectrum.