This is about the Final - last August - of Series 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year.
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| The three finalists - with their final pod paintings - waiting for the decision |
The Location
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| The view from the pods - located at Trinity Buoy Wharf |
I know it reasonably well having been there before - for sketching trips and
exhibitions. The thing which has struck me each time is
- what a huge view it has of the bend in the Thames it is sooooooooooo panoramic!
- how that wharf is VERY exposed to wind and weather - should it choose to get nasty. I speak as one who tried sketching there one Sunday morning when I spent a lot of the time sitting inside the cafe - Fat Boy's Diner - sketching out the window while BP Portrait Award winner Susan du Toit sketched me!
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View of the tiny pods - at Trinity Buoy Wharf next to the Trinity light House and bridge to the pontoon |
The Weather
The weather was dry and seemed to produce some interesting skies during
the course of the day. It looked as if it started warm but got progressively
cooler.
A TV Journey
The Artists
As noted in my last post,
it's an all female final for the second year running and the third
female winner on the trot
- after
Jen Gash
and
Fujiko Rose
in
2018 (review)
and
2019 (review) respectively.
(This series would have run in 2020 if things had been normal).
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| (Left to right) Shelagh Casebourne, Ophelia Redpath and Claire Lord - socially distancing |
The Heats
- Shelagh Casebourne - won Heat 1 at Chartwell (House) when she painted a splendid view of the House from a very difficult perspective looking upwards. She then looked as if he was losing her way in the Semi Finals before storming to the finish with a few tweaks which made all the difference. She has a process and knows what works for her - and her paintings look more and more like those of Courbet!
- Ophelia Redpath - won Heat 3 at the West Reservoir Centre Terrace. While writing my review of the Semi Finals I realised she was probably the most experienced in the show - having been an artist for some 30 years. I thought Ophelia would do well having seen her start her painting. Her experience tells her how long it takes to paint her picture - and how best to compose it - and I was right. Plus by the end of the semi-finals I was now in no doubt that the Judges were enamoured with her very unique magic realism style.
- Clare Lord - won Heat 5 at West Wycombe House - from an awful view which required an assertive crop. She was then brave and energetic in the semi-final and completed the biggest painting demonstrating she has no inhibitions about painting big.
See also Review: Semi Finals of Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at the Queen
Elizabeth Olympic Park. For me they finished Ophelia, Shelagh and then Clare at the
semi-final stage.
The Final
The Final comprised two halves- pod painting within 4 hours at Trinity Buoy Wharf
- commissions - of three locations - within Kew Gardens
I'll deal with each in turn
Pod Paintings
Kate Bryan commented at the beginning that this was the Final and they needed to make it really hard! That was an understatement!
Tai spoke at length about how much he hated the view. He thought it represented chaos
"There is nothing here I'd want to paint. I look out there and I want to despair" Tai Shan Shierenberg
Which says a lot about the very sensible decisions of all the Finalists to avoid painting the dome in its entirety and instead find views and motifs which interested them and which they thought they could complete in four hours.
Commissions
Given the pandemic, the competition was unable to do what it normally
does and ask the artists to paint a very specific place for a specific
organisation.
Instead they were asked to paint three locations in Kew Gardens on the
same day - which minimised the amount of travelling the film crew had
and provided vast open spaces.
- Shelagh had to paint the Palm House - and had the choice of inside or out
- Ophelia had to paint the Japanese Landscape Garden - which is a delight in one of the quieter corners of the garden
- Clare had to paint the (long) Lake (and Sackler Crossing) in the centre of the Gardens
The Commissions allow the artists to paint away from the location and take as much or as little time as they liked for their paintings.
In a way it's the best indicator there is of whether or not the artist is up to painting the location for the final commission.
In my opinion it's often the case that the competition is finally decided by the Commission Paintings rather than the 4 hour pod painting - where the artist has no option as to how they locate themselves.
