Patsy Cain's Curatorial Choice

It has been an absolute pleasure for me to be involved again this year, curating and judging with my fellow artists. These are in no particular order, they are all my favourites. 

The Burren Waves by Kendrick Snodin

Truly amazing, a landscape so full of layers of colour, It makes the viewer want to visit this mystical land, tread the rocks and explore the rock pools to find the sea’s treasure. The calming colours of the sky with the sun shining through, give a sense of warmth and calmness. The depth of the image makes you feel that the land in the distance is a faraway place, full of magic.

Memorial by Celia Read

Fantastic Cyanotype, a technique I am not very familiar with until Celia explained the process, such a beautiful way to create art, and her use of memories have made it that more special. I especially like the use of copper pipes to give an industrial rawness to it. Shows how working with processes can create such a lovely work.

Mushrooms by Helen Foster

The Artist has gone to great lengths to intricately show such detail. Fine lines draw you into something magical, like a fairy tale expecting to see imps and such peeping out from behind. It is very pleasing to the eye.

Richard and the Tulips by Chloe Bates

The image has a background that feels like an image you would get from a negative film, looking up to the light, you would see the white lines, but mixed with a positive image full of colour, a very clever way to paint. The eyes are drawn to the subjects, in this case, Richard and the Tulips but you are still aware of the rest of the image, almost like the coloured images are the most important but the rest still plays an important role in the piece. Very clever.

Reconstructing Myself by Teresa Budworth

A Fantastic Portrait with the use of slithers of collage using words. The viewer is drawn to the words and it makes you possibly think how we overthink and sometimes we just need to take time out to make time for ourselves. The collage effect works perfectly

Down Through the Night by Nigel Smith

With hints of Umber and Ochre. This piece gives a mystical feel, the white lines, omit a sense of water flowing, possibly rain, as a viewer it makes one want to explore further, are they rocks? what’s beyond those? Lots of questions to answer, a great way to draw a viewer in and get their imagination working.