Senior Award - Second Prize Winner

The artist: "The reason I created this artwork was to express a feeling that I struggle to describe in words. I started a unit of exploration based on the feeling ‘lost’. I was trying to capture this focussing on atmosphere and mood. The piece is from an early winter morning in January, when the mornings were still dark and feeling almost empty.

The painting is actually very small in terms of scale. I have only started painting with oils this academic year and my aim was to work on paper in a loose and slightly expressive style. Areas of the painting were quite difficult due to painting on such a small scale but this difficulty added to overall aesthetic of the painting in a positive way forcing me to leave details as simple suggestions and use a more painterly approach.

Having my artwork recognised and winning an award has meant more than I would have guessed, it was something totally unexpected and it makes me feel proud of something I have created to be recognised in a such a way."