Portraits of Children: Yvadney and her daughter at the NPG

Yvadney Davis and her daughter will be seen by rather a lot of people around London over the next couple of months.

"Inset Day" (2025) by Yvadney Davis
- and Yvadney with her daughter at the Portrait Award Exhibition
at the National Portrait Gallery

my self-portrait exploring my feelings around being an artist mum, balancing self expression with duty, priorities… legacy.

That's because "Inset Day" - a portrait of choices to made at at home when the teachers need training (roll eyes!) - is being used as one of the feature portraits marketing the Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

It's also currently the feature image on the website for the exhibition!

Yvadney's daughter was at school on the morning of the Press View - so could not be there to be photographed with her mum and Mum's portrait of the two of them.  There's a very funny story about what stopped their first planned trip  to view the painting together - which I’d love to share, but I won’t!

However school has now finished and Yvadney took her daughter to the National Portrait Gallery recently to show her "her portrait" and for both of them to have their photograph taken in the NPG with the portrait! (I'm sure she's got some at home of the them both with the portrait before it made it to the NPG!)

I gather visitors were very taken with the notion that they were seeing both subjects and the artist and that they both got a lot of attention during the visit. I think you'll agree they both look like they enjoyed themselves a lot. I love watching the double takes you get from gallery visitors when you see people realising they're seeing the people in the portrait!

What with all the parents which get painted, the Portrait Award sometimes feels a bit like a family affair.

I'll be interested to see which portrait wins the Visitors Choice Award. I've got a feeling this one might in the running along with a couple of others. Although I'm much better at picking the First Prize Winners than the Visitors' Choice Award Winners!

@yvadneydavisart has a background as a fashion stylist and did her Art Foundation, Camberwell School of Art, 2000 followed by a Fashion Bachelor of Arts, Central Saint Martins, 2004 and went on to a career in fashion. During the Pandemic, she returned to her love of painting during the pandemic and recently has developed her art from a lockdown hobby to an award winning practice. She celebrates Caribbean heritage and the Windrush generation and uses old wallpaper for her support. Since taking up painting and portraiture her artwork has been selected for a number of competitions in the last three years. She also featured in the semi final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2023

Photos of children with their portrait in the NPG

I've got a bit of a history of meeting children with their parents in relation to portraits selected for the exhibition. Some of them I get to meet again a few years later when they're back again with parent to see the latest portrait selected

I think Samantha Fellows holds the "Making A Mark record for most children in a portrait photographed in the NPG by me" - when viewing the latest selected portrait! Of which more below

Samantha Fellows with her daughter Pearl and her portrait
Pearl In The Morning, Ready For School 
oil on panel
BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2016

The above photo was taken back in 2016 and it's amazing to think that Pearl was aonly 13 then and is now 9 years older and a young woman!

She's got an excellent option for the "conundrum question" for those competitions where you have to guess something about somebody. 

Found Albert Crouching in the Kitchen
oil on panel
© Samantha Fellows
BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2018

We didn't have Albert on the Awards Night - but he made it to the Press View the next day! 

Samantha Fellows and Albert at the BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2018

@samanthafellowsart - is a figurative artist based in London. She paints in oil on plywood panels and on paper. Since returning to the UK after a BFA (Hons) in Fine Art from Oregon State University in 1997, Sam has enjoyed a prolific career as a scenic artist in London. In the last 5 years, she has enjoyed switching her focus towards producing her own paintings. Her work has appeared in many prize and open exhibitions, such as the BP Portrait Award and the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition.