Two new series for the creative

This is an alert - if it's needed - to the start of two new series for the depths of winter for those of a creative disposition.

• Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 9/2024)
• The Great Pottery Throw Down (Series 7/2024)

Landscape Artist of the Year 2024 | Sky Arts

Series Nine of Landscape Artist of the Year starts TOMORROW on Wednesday 10th January! 

From 2,000 entries for LAOTY in 2023, just 48 were chosen to paint at six different venues in three locations around the UK in

• Liverpool (Pier Head and Albert Docks)
• Hever Castle in Kent (two different views)
• Stonehaven (The Harbour and Dunnotar Castle) on the Aberdeenshire coast in Scotland

Some of you will recall that I wrote a post last summer about where this new series was being filmed - see Filming Landscape Artist of the Year in June 2023 for images on Instagram and elsewhere of some of the filming.

This is a short video about the upcoming series - which gives you an insight into some of the locations - and weather - experienced by the pod artists and wildcards

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sky Arts Artist Of The Year (@artistoftheyear)

The dates for the eight episodes - for your diary - are:

• Heat 1: 10th January 2024
• Heat 2: 17th January 2024
• Heat 3: 24th January 2024
• Heat 4: 31st January 2024
• Heat 5: 7th February 2024
• Heat 6: 14th February 2024
• Semi Finals: 21st February 2024
• The Final: 28th February 2024
• Commission: 1st March 2024 (or possibly following straight on from Final episode)

This Sky Arts commissioned programme - made by Storyvault Films - is available on Sky Arts and you can view via:

• Sky Arts on Freeview - the only dedicated arts channel on UK television (but there's no catch up service). You can find it at Channel 36
• Sky TV - for all Sky subscribers
• Now TV - for those with a subscription to the app 

Both of the latter offer opportunities for catch up after an episode has been first broadcast - plus access to all 65 episodes from past series - should you fancy a mega binge on landscape painting.

Fancy a LAOTY Binge?

You can have binge on past episodes and my past reviews - and find out more about the learning points in each episode - as follows:

• Series 1 to 8 are available on Sky and Now TV
• Click this label Landscape Artist of the Year to access all my past reviews of the series I've covered.
• or take a look at my reviews for each series - which are listed for 2018 onwards - on my Art on Television page. These all highlight LEARNING POINTS I observed in each episode.

The Great Pottery Throw Down (Series 7) | Channel 4

Twelve potters emerged into the Gladstone Pottery in Middleport on Sunday night to start the challenge to become the best potter of 2024.

The 12 participants in The Great Pottery Showdown 2024

The programme is broadcast on Channel 4 and will be on every Sunday evening 

One of the really lovely aspects of this very "feel good" programme is its good nature and humour. All the participants and presenters are really nice and all are nice to one another. 

Judging is by ceramics experts and working professionals (it makes a change!)

• Keith Brymer Jones a working ceramicist and designer for four decades; and 
• Rich Miller who runs a handmade tile company based in Surrey.

These are the twelve potters taking part this year and they are split into age groups below

Twenties

• Sophie - a design crafts graduate (ie she did ceramics at university)
• Princess - a studio technician

Thirties

• Steven - an arts and design teacher and amateur potter
• Shani - who used to make post as a child in Sri Lanka
• Edward - a social housing project officer
• Daniel - a data scientist

Forties

• Donna - an art teacher
• Dan - who's staying quiet about what he does

50+

• Jan - an animal sciences lecturer
• Dave - a retired school teacher
• Cadi - who's also staying quiet about what he does
• Andrew - an actor

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm already trying to spot the winner. Two who appear to be in strong contention and I'm currently predicting will be in the Final are Princess and Dan

The two challenges for the first episode were:

• a roast dinner set and 
• identical side plates

It's very obvious - from the choice of potter to go home (Andrew) - that listening to the brief and making sure you adhere to it is critical to continued participation. 

There again - you could say the same about any competition about art or crafts on television!!

Assuming it's like last year, there will be ten episodes in total on Channel 4 on the following dates.

• the 7th, 14th, 21st and 29th January
• 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th February
• 3rd and 10th March

and then repeated on 4seven at 9pm on Tuesdays.