MAKING A MARK

Review: Episode 4 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:35:57 +0000

PAOTY Episode 4

As usual, this review of Episode 4 follows my standard format, which covers:

the three sitters
the nine artists
self-portrait submissions
themes arising in the episode
who the sitters chose
the shortlist for a place in the semi-finals of PAOTY 2026
the winner
the sitters for the next episode.

The Arti Shah "Cheese" (what they call one of the segments)
- before she chooses which finished artwork to take home.

This post is a bit later again this week due to four days this week spent connecting my neck with the NHS. Those who follow on Facebook will know what I'm talking about!

Yesterday I was supposed to have two more "flexion" X-rays (to be absolutely 100% sure I've not broken my neck in two places!) but that didn't happen due to a paperwork cockup. Then this morning phone calls with neurosurgery sorting it out - and they phoned me! The end is in sight - hopefully tomorrow.....

Episode 4: The Sitters

To me they all seemed to be very good sitters, staying remarkably still.

The sitters were:

Danny Beard - a British drag performer and singer who won the fourth series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK. He has also appeared on other popular television reality tv competitions and tends to do reasonably well.

Danny Beard - in drag

Arti Shah - a person of reduced stature (she's just four feet tall) who is an actress and motivational speaker with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry. Her most recent roles has involved starring as Paddington in Paddington: The Musical in London’s West End - which won Best New Musical at the Laurence Olivier Awards in April 2026. She's also very active in the world of Creature FX where she with prosthetics, movement reference, and motion capture.to bring creatures to life.

Manny Woodard meeting Arti Shah for the first time

Yalda Hakim - an Afghan-born Australian broadcast journalist who grew up in Sydney and worked for Australian TV before moving to the BBC and subsequently Sky News as Lead World News presenter. She is also a documentary maker. She is a specialist in Middle Asia and is a fluent speaker in 5 languages: English, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Pashto - and she's learning Mandarin. She's the daughter of Afghan refugees and her special object was a bowl made of lapis lazuli - which comes from Afghanistan, which was wonderful to see.

Episode 4: The Artists

three of the artists - Sammy, Suzanne and Luke
talking with their sitter - Danny Beard

There is a profile of the artists on the PAOTY website. Below you get a mini profile of each artist which is missing from that page.

THE ARTISTS, in alphabetical order, are:

Sammy Alam (Instagram) - a fashion student from Montreal, Quebec, Canada now based in London. He completed his Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Central St Martins in 1925.
Suzanne Barton (Instagram) - A former author and illustrator of children's books based in Oxford. She has done classes with the Art Students League (New York), Sunningwell School of Art, and Heatherleys. She became interested in oil painting in 2021. Her submission for this competition was her first ever self portrait.
Oliver Bedeman (Instagram) - a contemporary figurative painter who specialises in portraiture and reverse oil painting on glass. He is based in Oxfordshire and works primarily from life and also as an art teacher. He graduated from the University of Brighton in 2007 with a B.A (Hons) Fine Art Painting. Followed by the Postgraduate Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School. He has been successful in being selected for leading awards eg Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery (See my two posts about "Artists with their Paintings" in 2018 and 2024). Prior to this he was selected for The Threadneedle Prize in 2016 and 2018. His track record to date suggests to me he will, in due course, be approved for membership of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Oliver Bedeman - with his self portrait (reverse oil painting on glass)
outside Battersea Arts Centre where PAOTY heats are filmed

Harry Garner (Instagram) - Now based in Liverpool, he was Born in rural Leicestershire into a multi-generational farming family, he left the family farm to study Fine Art & Art History at the Liverpool School of Creative and Performing Arts, graduating with First Class Honours in 2019. He is now
Svetlana Kornilova (Instagram) A Russian artist who now lives in London. She studied art in Russia.
Luke McKenzie (Instagram) - an artist and writer based in Newcastle - with a BA (Hons) Fine Art (2024) from Newcastle University. His artwork is inspired by the high renaissance and explores themes of queer martyrdom. He is very used to painting drag queens. He very definitely got paired with the right sitter!
Sebastien Shead (Instagram) - a retail associate and an art student from a village in North Yorkshire - now based in London. He has a BA in Fine Art (Bath Spa University 2024) which allowed him to spend time on his studies of the methods and materials of the Old Masters. Followed by two years spent studying observational drawing and painting at the Heatherley School of Art. Which means I attended his graduation show this summer.
Minnie Themba (Instagram) - a fine art student, currently studying for a BA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins.
Manny Woodard (Instagram) - Based in Arundel. She is a sculptor who has developed her drawing activities of late. She began making portraits in 2023 after being accepted into the Worthing Portrait Artist of the Year competition (based on PAOTY). In 2025, she won the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Purchase Prize for Drawing. She now draws from life every week at local art groups, finding the study of faces and character endlessly fascinating

Episode 4: Self Portrait Submissions

THANKS for getting me through my Spinal Shocker

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 10:41:03 +0000

Yesterday was one of those days I will never ever forget.

I walked into A&E at my local teaching hospital to get a CT Scan done on my neck. (I'd had an excruciating pain at the back of my neck the previous week - you will remember my review of PAOTY was delayed until Sunday)

The first thing I was told by the doctor who saw me, who had read the Radiologist's report from the local community hospital where I had my x-Ray done on Monday was that

"You've broken your neck in two places"

A bit of a shocker - as I'm sure you will agree.

So I had ID tag put round my wrist, a cannula put in, bloods taken, a gown put on and a hard cervical collar put on - until I looked like this

Me at the Royal London Hospital
yesterday morning

Being all on my own, (I thought I was just going for a CT Scan for a better picture of my neck), I rang my partner and told him what I'd been told and told him not to come down until things were clearer i.e. saving him from coming and going if I needed to be admitted.

Then I needed to talk, so told all my followers on my Making A Mark Facebook Page what was happening to me.

Apparently, I’ve broken my neck in two places! Just waiting for a hard collar to go on (got it!) Then CT Scan. Then MRI scan. Then a chat with a neuro surgeon….

THANK YOU

Thank you all your kind words of

support and information and advice

These kept me going through several hours of

arranging a CT Scan and
then waiting for the results and
then getting signed off by the Neurosurgery doctors - as they could not see a fracture.

I am so very grateful to all of you who commented.

Your responses allowed me to reply and kept me occupied while I sat and worried about what was happening and what it all meant - and the implications were numerous and horrifying. (i.e. what do you do for the rest of your life if you sever your spinal cord at your cervical spine???)

This morning, one of the neurosurgery doctors rang and said they'd like a couple of more x-rays just to be absolutely safe that there's no fracture. Which I'm very happy to do. Double checking and being super safe is my kind of medicine.

So I've got to go back for two flexion x-rays - with neck leaning forward and backwards. But they're not expecting them to find anything - apart from the degenerative damage caused by my age and osteoarthritis.

I'll be updating all my friends and followers on Facebook with what happened next - because you were the BEST yesterday! You got me through a very frightening experience.

PS Never ever go to hospital without packing a battery charger!

Review: Episode 3 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 16:27:32 +0000

Apologies for the late publication of my review of Episode 3 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026. This is not one of my better reviews for a variety of reasons.

I had a few distractions last week

Tuesday: Met with Commissioning Editor of a reputable publisher and got commissioned to write a second art book, of which more in due course - but I'm excited and had started jotting things down - which was a major distraction - before...
Wednesday: got up very early to escort my other half partner for his surgery - and then got sent back home because of no bed;
Thursday: an excruciating pain developed in the back of my neck (fracture from recent fall or cervical spondylosis?) which painkillers did not dampen down. The only thing that worked was an Icepack - tied on with a scarf! So I went looking for solutions.... which lost a day... plus did a 111 assessment and got a GP appointment and had a very bad night's sleep despite trying every pain medication!
Friday: Saw the GP - discussed what it might be; got an appointment for an x-ray and appointment with normal GP for next week. PLUS I developed a very "wet nose" sneezy cold - presumably caught from sitting around in crowded hospitals and GP surgeries!
Very tired all through Friday and Saturday.

Anyway, so now on to what was supposed to be one of the intended brightspots of the week - my review of Episode 3 of PAOTY Series 13.

I sneezed constantly through writing most of this....

PAOTY Episode 3

"A little bit of judging"

This is my review of Episode 3 which covers:

the three sitters
the nine artists
self-portrait submissions
themes arising in the episode
who the sitters chose
the shortlist for a place in the semi-finals of PAOTY 2026
the winner

Episode 3: The Sitters

The Aberfan Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:50:29 +0000

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster in South Wales.

A colliery spoil tip soaked by rain collapsed down a hillside. Around 150,000 tonnes of wet slurry crashed into the village of Aberfan. The Pantglas Junior School was directly in its path and was buried. In total 116 children and 28 adults were killed in the Junior School, part of the neighbouring Secondary School and a nearby row of houses. It happened at 9.15am and no survivors were found after 11am.

A new BBC programme "Unseen: The Aberfan Portraits" tells the story of how paintings were created of some of the children who were lost. (see below for how to watch it)

An artist called William Richardson worked in North Wales, Llandudno, sketching visitors on holiday and celebrities. He was greatly affected by what had happened. He very much wanted to help the families who has lost children. Which is how he came to paint their portraits from family photos. In all he painted about a 100 portraits.

Some of the portraits of Aberfan children lost in the disaster
painted by William Richardson

The paintings were not small, as these extracts from the BBC film illustrate

Jeanette Keane - with the portrait of her sister Edwina

Denise Morgan with her portrait of her younger sister Annette

Importantly, the portraits recreated the children within the family home and enabled people to talk about them - and to them - again.

They are now being passed down to the generations or donated to local museums so that this important record of their existence ensures they will never be forgotten.

I don't know if William Richardson was ever honoured for what he did - but I rather think he should have been.

You can watch the programme about the portraits on BBC iPlayer - Unseen: The Aberfan Portraits

I remember the disaster really well. At the time I was 12, just a few years older than the children who were killed. I'll never ever forget the shock of seeing the television news and the Junior School which was submerged and destroyed by the coal slurry. Inside it were 116 children who never made it out alive.

Pantglas Junior School
and the efforts to retrieve the bodies of the living and the dead

The Pros and Cons of Online Exhibitions for Art Societies (ref. SOFA Winter Exhibition)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:34:17 +0000

Many moons ago, just after I'd taken early retirement, I had the pleasure of exhibiting with the Society of Feline Artists at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery on The Cut, near to both the Old Vic and Waterloo Station in London. Unfortunately, although SOFA exhibited very happily there for 25 years, that gallery "shut up shop" a while back. Since then they've tried a number of alternative venues - and online exhibitions.

The Society of Feline Artists has been exhibiting paintings, drawings, sculpture and other feline-inspired artwork since our very first exhibition in 1995.

This is about SOFA's new Winter Exhibition (17th October - 15th November) - which is not in a gallery, it's ONLINE.

AND It's a very different kind of review given it's very much focused on

pros and cons of online exhibitions
what you must do when selling art online
the legal and regulatory compliance side of online exhibitions selling art

I'm seeing art societies do more and more online art exhibitions - with art for sale.

I do wonder if all those organising know all the questions they need to ask re what they need to do.

"Welcome to the SOFA Online Exhibition" on the website

This post will comment on:

viewing the SOFA exhibition
Pros and Cons of Online Exhibitions

savings for the art society!
buying the art
selling the art

plus Trading, Ecommerce, Money Laundering, VAT and GDPR Regulations

My comments are largely focused on helping SOFA (or any other art societies aiming to sell via online exhibitions) to be more effective and completely legal.

Below is one of my artworks which was exhibited at SOFA many years ago! - of my cat Cosmo (who passed away 10 years ago + more drawings of him).

It now hangs opposite where I'm sat writing this.

I spy a spider

12" x 8", coloured pencils

selected for SOFA Annual Exhibition 2008

at the Llewellyn Alexander Galleries

Artworks

Let's not forget that very many famous artists loved drawing and painting their cats! Never ever "sniff" at somebody who mainly draws and paint cats!

Leonardo da Vinci famously sketched cats in various postures and movements across his notebooks, marveling at their anatomical balance, agility, and grace.
The artwork in every SOFA Exhibition celebrates cats - and if you're a cat fan, you'll LOVE looking at the artwork on this website. Subject matter includes both domestic felines and wild / big cats and the art media and styles are various and diverse.
We are thrilled to showcase an incredible collection of feline-inspired artwork, celebrating cats of all shapes, sizes, and personalities. From bold digital paintings to cozy traditional sketches

There are 125 artworks in the show. That's about a third of the number exhibited by the bigger national art societies at the Mall Galleries. It's enough to need a large space - but maybe not enough to make the budgeting easy.
The artwork is by more than 50 artists, who work in a variety of media, from oils and watercolour to pencil and printmaking.

The SOFA Winter Exhibition

Review: Episode 2 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:10:34 +0000

PAOTY 2026 Episode 2 Artists with self portraits

The Sitters for the Second Episode of Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 were Louis Theroux, Anthony Scaramucci and Joanna Scanlon and one of them made it to the shortlist twice - while another missed out!

This is my review of Episode 2 which covers:

the artists
the sitters
self-portrait submissions
themes arising in the episode
who the sitters chose
the shortlist
the winner

PAOTY Episode 1

Episode 2: The Sitters

Two of the sitters
Anthony Scarramucci and Joanna Scanlon

Unlike the first episode, the three sitters had very diverse backgrounds and occupations. All are aged above 50 so a generally more relaxed set of sitters.

Louis Theroux (age 56) is a presenter and BBC documentary maker of some renown. His programmes - often about odd people or organisations - have won him three BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society Television Award. Somebody gave him some very bad advice about what to bring.
Anthony Scarramucci's claim to fame is he briefly served (11 days) as Trump's White House communications director in 2017. Age 64, he started out working at Goldman Sachs - ininvestment banking, equities, and private wealth management - before going on to found his own investment firm and subsequently write a number of books. Since April 2024, I've been listening to him as one half of "The Rest is Politics US Edition" podcast with Katty Kay - and he's very good!
Joanna Scanlon (age 65) is a British actress and writer. She's had a number of nominations for various awards and won a BAFTA for best actress in a leading role in 2020. I remember her best as a completely pivotal person in "The Thick of It" which satirised the inner workings of government, which used to be much appreciated by those of us who'd been in there!

Episode 2: The Artists

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maggie McManus (@maggiemcmanusart)

Left to right: Nasha Cash, Alice Parsloe, Maggie Macmanus, Mackenzy Beard, Andrea Broug, Joshua Obichere, Sam Reeves, Joanna Houghton, Jake Fern.

The artists, in alphabetical order, are:

Makenzy Beard (Instagram) (Linkedin)(age 19) from Swansea in South Wales, her appearance on the programme got her a spot on her local BBC News programme. She is an established Welsh portrait artist who earned international recognition from a very young age. Age 14, she started painting in the garden shed during Covid lockdown. Next she had work accepted for the RA Summer Exhibition. Recently she has worked with a gallery in Cardiff where she has held multiple sellout solo-exhibitions and raised over £45k for charity since her painting journey began. Her work has also been featured in The Times, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, ITV News, Sky News with Alastair Stewart, The Times Radio. She became a professional artist, in September 2025, while having a gap year after her A Levels. She also plans to do a philosophy degree.
Andrea Broug (Instagram) (age 18) - A sixth form student, currently sitting her "A" Levels. Now based in London, she is a former student of North Halifax Grammar School. She likes to explore cultural identity, familial bonding, and historical representations of skin tones and Black history in painting
Nasha Cash - she is a Sheffield born, multi-disciplinary artist and illustrator who’s spent the last decade living and working in Manchester. She does "Live Painting and Murals" and "Speed Portraiture for Events". She's worked with a number of clients to create works for many different projects, campaigns and events.
Jake Fern (Instagram)- a British portrait and landscape artist living and working in Saltdean, Brighton, England. He usually works from life and on commission re. portraits. BELOW Eva Langret was asking a question (in true Socratic method - designed to stimulate creative thinking) rather than giving tips! This is a link to a very interesting interview with him by "Artists and Illustrators"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jake Fern (@jake_fern_art)

Joanna Houghton (Instagram)- an artist based in Manchester. Originally from North Wales, Joanna graduated from Manchester School of Art with a degree in Illustration in 2012. Her submission was a very small drawing of her one year old in coloured pencils.
Maggie McManus (Instagram) - Originally from Leeds, now living in Manchester, teaching secondary Art full time and painting. She describes herself as an art teacher, artist and mother.
Joshua Obichere (Instagram) - from East London. MA Fine Art, Fine/Studio Arts, General from Central St. Martins. Master of Education - MEd from Cambridge University. Full time Artist and Art Educator passionate about creativity, art for race and social justice. He runs workshops as one half of an art duo. He talked very confidently about his process of using grout and oil paints to create portraits. Jonathan Yeo commented he was one of the most original artists in terms of the materials he was using. He paints by icing the outline in grout.
Alice Parsloe (Instagram) - an artist and former actor based in North London. She now freelances as a voiceover artist. She works with oil pastels on cardboard.
Sam Reeves (Instagram, Facebook) - a Fine Art student studying at Liverpool Hope University, who specialises in realistic portraiture of people and pets. He works primarily in oil paint. He's due to graduate in June 2027. He's participated in a number of exhibitions. This was his self portrait The Gridded Self

Self Portrait Submissions

Judges viewing the self portrait submissions.

Review: "Future Ruins" by Michael Landy at the Sir John Soane Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:22:14 +0000

It was my very great pleasure yesterday to meet former "Young British Artist" Michael Landy RA. He is an amazing draughtsman who is justly renowned for his meticulous drawings

As I'm a huge fan of drawing, I've always very much enjoyed his series of etchings of weeds titled "Nourishment" - which I've been to see in the Archive of Tate Britain.

This series was created immediately after and maybe in response to possibly his most famous work. His major 2001 installation work Breakdown — saw all 7,227 of his personal possessions being destroyed in the windows of the defunct C&A store on London's Oxford Street - after which he was left with nothing.

In the series Nourishment (2002) the overlooked city weeds were collected from city pavements.

They served as personal metaphors for resilience, survival, and finding life in hostile urban environments. (see also Nourishment (2024) at the Thomas Dane Gallery which includes weeds collected from the streets of Naples).

That's by way of a very long preamble and introduction to his current work....

Future Ruins

His series "Future Ruins" imagines what some iconic buildings might look like in future after an event which left them in ruins.

For anybody who likes drawing and/or architecture or both, I'd highly recommend you pay a visit ot the Sir John Soane Museum in Lincoln's In Fields.

The exhibition features new and recent work which is shown in the context of the art that first inspired Landy to create the series.

A work from the museum’s collection - Joseph Michael Gandy’s watercolour Architectural Ruins - A Vision (1798) - commissioned by Sir John Soane and depicting the then-Bank of England as a Roman ruin was an inspiration for Landy. Now this work will be displayed alongside the artist’s own imagining of a future filled with overgrown nature and crumbling structures.

The vast majority of the drawings of imaginary future ruins. Some are drawings done of existing ruined buildings.

The scope of buildings includes everything from the Bank of England, to the art shop where he used to buy his art materials and his old home in Ilford to Mar A Largo and Kanye West's house in Malibu at 24844 Malibu Road - which oddly was one of the houses which burned during the bad Californian fires last year.

Imaginary view of The Bank of England in ruins (2023)

after Joseph Michael Gandy
signed titled verso indelible pen
permanent pen on paper
76 x 56.1 cm. 30 x 22 in.

Review: Episode 1 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:31:54 +0000

This week we had the screening of the first episode of the brand new series (13th) of Portrait Artist of the Year - with a brand new set of Judges!

As I have been doing every year since 2018, I'm writing a review of every episode of this thirteenth series.

Series 13 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year

This review post considers:

The Competition
Then Commission
The (New) Judges
The sitters
The artists
Self-portrait submissions
Themes observed during the episode - and observations on different approaches
Portraits and the Judging
Shortlist
The winner
Next episode
Reference (previous posts re. 2026 - and how to access posts re previous series)

About the Context

The Competition

Sky Arts runs a competition every year called Portrait Artist of the Year. This is the 13th Series - and I have been reviewing every episode of every series on Making A Mark since 2018. (Check out my Call for Entries: Portrait Artist of the Year 2026).

It comprises

a series of heats, - with nine artists painting 3 sitters - followed by
a semi final - of all the heat winners
a Final of the best three in the Semi Final
a Commission by the winner of the Final

The Heats, Semi Final and Final are typically all held in the Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre. People can get tickets to watch and many do. I watched Heat 2 this year in April this year - and have lots of pics!

Battersea Arts Centre

I wrote about how the series works in detail in my Call for Entries post so won't repeat it here.

There are 72 artists in Series 13 - meaning we have 8 heats. The order of the episodes is generally NOT the same as the order of the episodes. Unless I turn up in the next episode in which case they may have changed the rule.

The Series Commission - for the National Portrait Gallery

This year, the £10,000 commission is from the National Portrait Gallery to paint a portrait of musician and actor Damien Lewis.

There's an interesting MEDIA TWIST with the commission being for the NPG.

I would draw a very big distinction between images in the collection for historical reasons and images on the walls of the NPG

The portraits the NPG typically hangs in the galleries are those painted in OIL - on the grounds of longevity.
This instantly rules out all those using other media eg watercolour or pastels.

The Primary Collection contains more than 11,000 portraits. Of these about 4,000 are paintings, sculptures and miniatures, approaching 60% of which are regularly displayed, with the intention to show a further selection. In addition, there are almost 7,000 light-sensitive works on paper, shown on a rotating basis of about 300 items a year to avoid excessive light exposure and thus to minimise deterioration and fading. Introduction to the Primary Collection

(There are

1,446 watercolours in the collection - but almost all are miniatures or very small portraits of a very historical nature (ie Reference Collection) with a very few more recent drawings of famous people which might be included in a temporary exhibit
5 paintings in egg tempera
34 paintings in acrylic - because of the issues with cracking which emerged over time? The only important (royal) paintings painted in acrylic hung in the galleries were painted in the 1980s.
118 portrait drawings in charcoal
22 portrait drawings in graphite - again mainly miniatures)
no pastels at all.)

This is a logistics and communication issue for the programme organisers. If you know the commissioning organisation is a national gallery, then you really need to be frank about what this means for the prospective participants in the competition.

e.g. Any media is fine for participation in the heats but progression is likely to favour oils.

The Judges

After very many years of moaning about the previous Judges, we have three new Judges.

I wrote about their backgrounds back in February in The NEW Portrait Artist of the Year Judges. They are

Eva Langret - Director of Frieze London
Jonathan Yeo - portrait painter
Katy Hessel - art historian, author and braodcaster

Three new Judges for Series 13 in 2026

(Lto R): Eva Langret, Katy Hessel and Jonathan Yeo

One of things I'll be looking at as I trawl around the internet is viewers' views on the new Judges - and will maybe write another post on your views.

PAOTY Episode 1

Episode 1: The Sitters

The three sitters were all actors. In the order they were introduced they are:

Lenny James - A 61 year old English actor of Afro-Trinidadian parents, best known for portraying

Morgan Jones in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2018)
DCI Tony Gates in Line of Duty series one
and more recently in Mr Loverman
He's a big fan of Spurs and brought a shirt

Sheridan Smith OBE - A 45 year old English actress and singer who is probably best known for characters in a series of sitcoms. She has been awarded two Olivier Awards, a British Academy Television Award, and a National Television Award, and brought her BAFTA (for Mrs Biggs) as one of her items.
Vanessa Williams is a 63 year old American singer, actress, model, producer and dancer. She was the first Black woman to win the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. Back in April she was starring in The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre in the West End stage where she was playing the Miranda Priestley role.

Sheridan Smith and Vanessa Williams back to back
in their segments

Episode 1: The Artists

I do a lot of research about the artists, as you get the highly edited version and I like the full public version! I find it also invariably makes more sense of some of the Judge's decisions.

Review: 63rd Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 19:35:08 +0000

The 63rd Annual Exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists is currently at the Mall Galleries

It's also the last exhibition of Harriet Mead as President of the SWLA, a role she has fulfilled extremely well for the last 17 years. She steps down at the AGM in November 2026.

Harriet Mead with six of her sculptures of wildlife
created from welded found metal
Five of which have already sold!

The exhibition also saw the launch of the SWLA's new book about its Massingham Heath Project which started in May 2025. The book is available to buy at the exhibition

The Massingham Heath Project will see over thirty of our member artists follow the seasons and changing flora, fauna and landscape of an exciting rewilding project in West Norfolk.

This is a review of this exhibition which continues until Saturday 10th October.

About the Exhibition

There are either 359 exhibits in the show which creates a good show on the walls without the exhibition seeming too overcrowded.

There are a lot of birds in the East Gallery

Artwork includes oils, watercolours, acrylics, pastels, drawings, sculpture, original prints, mixed media and animation.

Much of the sculpture is beyond competent and some is extremely spectacular such as the cranes in the East gallery (see above)

One aspect I particularly like about this show is there are so many excellent fine art prints (84 in total) which can be much more affordable - and sometimes smaller and easier to find a home for on your walls. These include Serigraphs, Etchings,Etching and monoprints, Etching and Aquatints, Linocuts and Reduction Linocuts, Lithographs, Collographs, Drypoints, Drypoint and chine colle, Monotypes, Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock), Mokulito (wood lithograph) and Screenprints

Some of the prints plus a snake

More prints

What distinguishes the artwork in this wildlife art show is that it is based on actual observation of the subject, rather than the conversion of a photograph into a drawing, print or painting. The selectors are always looking for the signs that an artwork is based on personal and real observation.

Harriet Mead drew my attention to a submission by a new artist on the end wall of the West Gallery. This is not normally an exhibition where you see big cats or tropical animals. Yet this was a painting of Tiger Cubs. As Harriet said to me, you could tell straight away that this was based on observation in real life. It turned out the painting was was by an Italian artist who had visited Vietnam and come across captive cubs.

Tiger Cubs by Francesco Calistri (Italy)
oil and acrylic on canvas

All the artworks are for sale and many of the artists can (and are) commissioned.

The trend I observed last year towards more smaller - and more affordable - medium and small size artwork seems to have continued - which I think is very sensible in the current economic context.

Nearly 80% of the 72 artworks sold in the first five days are priced at less than £1,500 with most sales being for less than £1,000. This in part reflects changes in sizes of artwork.

You can see the artworks:

"Turning Thirteen" by Frances Bell wins HSFK Portrait Award Visitor's Choice

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 16:29:24 +0000

I have to say I am not in the least bit surprised that "Turning Thirteen" by Frances Bell has won the Visitor's Choice award - as announced by the National Portrait Gallery this afternoon on Facebook and Instagram.

Visitor's Choice Award - Frances Bell

Frances Bell and her daughter
with her portrait of "Turning Thirteen"
at the HSFK Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Gallery, London
© Making A Mark

Here's what I had to say about Frances Bell and her portrait back in my post Portrait Award 2026 - Artists with their paintings (Children and Parents)

Here's MY reasons for why Frances's portrait won.

Call for Entries: Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:48:29 +0000

You have TWO MONTHS to submit a portrait as an entry to the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027 (aka The Portrait Award!)

The BIG CHANGE this year is

you do NOT have the Christmas break for final titivating - because....
the deadline for your entry is Tuesday 1 December 2026

This date change is not highlighted on the website. If you have friends who sometimes / always enter it might be worth making sure they're aware of the date change. You could always send them a link to this blog post! :)

This is about:

WHY enter the HSFK Portrait Award?
WHO can submit an entry?
WHAT sort of portrait you can submit?
HOW to complete and submit your entry

Very many artists who have succeeded in being selected for this exhibition in the last two decades started out by reviewing my summary of the call for entries! I know because they told me at the Private View!

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award  2027
CALL FOR ENTRIES IMAGE

First of all the full title of both the competition and the award is the "Herbert Smith Kline Portrait Award" - but that's too much and too long so I ALWAYS refer to it as either

the HSFK Portrait Award
or THE Portrait Award

The links to the official information are all included below.

Series 13 of Portrait Artist of the Year starts 7th October 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:14:00 +0000

Portrait Artist of the Year is back next week on Wednesday October 7, 2026.

The thirteenth series has three new Judges - who I've already seen in action at Battersea Arts Centre during the heats in April this year.

Three New Judges
Eva Langret, Jonathan Yeo, and Katy Hessel

My post below covers:

what's the same - essentially the format and broadcasts and rules
what's different - ALL THE JUDGES
the list of celebrity sitters right the way through to the Commission
about my reviews after each broadcast episode
access to my past reviews of every episode of every series since Series 4 in 2018

So what's different and what's the same

What's the same?

the venue for all the heats is Battersea Arts Centre as in recent years
the presenter is actor and tv presenter Stephen Mangan (since 2018)
the programme is

commissioned by Sky Arts and
made by Storyvault Films
you can access all programmes via Sky Arts on Freeview or via Now TV

the series is broadcast on

a Wednesday evening - starting at 8pm.
It's then broadcast again the following evening at 7pm
and on the following weekend (but I forget when)

Programme Format:

Artists enter with a self-portrait created within the last 5 years.
They are selected on merit by the panel of expert judges.
Nine artists compete per heat
At the heats they are given four hours to paint a surprise celebrity sitter.
Each heat winners then competes at the Semi-Final.
Three of the Semi-Finalists go through to the Final but only one is selected as the overall winner.
These were the Terms and Conditions of Entry / Participation for all the selected artists

Prize: The winner receives

a £10,000 commission to produce an artwork that will go on public display at a National Institution (which changes every year) plus
£500 of art supplies from Cass Art.

What's different?

There are three new Judges - Eva Langret, Jonathan Yeo, and Katy Hessel

(see my post The NEW Portrait Artist of the Year Judges for longer and much more detailed summaries and assessments of them

Eva Langret we saw in LAOTY 2025 as a new Judge replacing Kate Bryan initially (re LAOTY 2026) but it's now clear she is the bang up to date and heavy weight substitute for Kathleen Soriano. She is the Director of Frieze London and Vice Chair of the Camden Art Centre.
Jonathan Yeo is "the artist" replacement for Tai Shan Shierenberg for Portrait Artist of the Year only. (I understand Tai continues for LAOTY). I'm not a fan of his portraiture due to the predominance of a lot of "head and hands" and odd connections between the two - although he is excellent at capturing a good likeness. (see my blog post The King Charles Portrait by Jonathan Yeo.) He has been a trustee at the National Portrait Gallery since 2018. He seems to be a portrait painter who likes to paint celebrities and other well known people (like some of the sitters in this series) and is described by Sky as

A portrait painter whose work you almost certainly know

Katy Hessel - a British art historian, broadcaster, author, columnist and curator dedicated to highlighting women artists throughout history. She has an Instagram account @thegreatwomenartists

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eva Langret (@evalangret)

The Celebrity Sitters for Portrait Artist of the Year

Final Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Oil Painters

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:26:03 +0000

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters invite entries to

the ROI OPEN Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries

in November and December 2026.

View of part of the West Gallery

This is the exhibition which, in 2025, broke the Mall Galleries record for the value of artwork sold! (Of which more in another post, but I do think my witterings about price ranges have got through!)

You have just over two weeks to get a entry submitted online.

The deadline for entries is 9th October 2026 so you've still got time to be get organised and get your entry in.

The ROI welcomes submissions on all subjects and approaches to this wonderful medium, from plein air, landscape and still life to portraiture and abstract… there is no limit except the common denominator that the work must be created in oil.
Note: As in acrylics are not oil!

The theme for the 2026 exhibition is ‘WINTER RITUALS’. The theme invites oil painters to

explore the traditions, repeated actions, gestures and rhythms that shape our experience of winter,
from personal routines and acts of devotion
to cultural traditions and collective gatherings.
It reflects on the character, moments, identity and symbolism of contemporary life.

The ROI Themed Painting Prize will be awarded to the best interpretation.

Below is the wall of the artworks selected for last year's theme of "Home"

The range of artwork selected for the 2025 theme of "Home"

Call for Entries - ROI Annual Exhibition 2026

Submissions are ONLINE ONLY and open until Friday 9 October 2026

If successful, you will be notified of your selection on Friday 23 October, 12 noon

You can find the official and FULL Call for Entries below on

Plus this is the link to the Full Details, Entry Terms & Conditions

Below is a Summary of the different aspects of the Call for Entry - plus MY COMMENTARY.

I would love to see more artists having the chance to exhibit alongside us at this prestigious event. When I had my first chance, I was over the moon and just being associated with this society has really boosted my career in the most positive ways.
Adebanji Alade - President

This covers:

WHO can enter
WHAT you can enter
PRESENTATION
FINANCIAL ASPECTS
PRIZES AND AWARDS
Past ROI exhibitions - if you want to see what they look like

Review: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:19:21 +0000

The Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists returned to the Mall Galleries last week. I visited on Wednesday - before the Private View and announcement of award winners - to photograph the exhibition and have a good look at the artwork in relative peace and quiet!

RSMA Annual Exhibition 2026 - Feature Wall in the West Gallery

As always, the calibre of the work selected for this exhibition is very good overall. There is some work which is outstanding and others I would not personally have selected - but that's about whether I'd hang it on my wall or be able to hang it on my wall! I'm not a marine artist so what do I know!

Note: I'm afraid I am not linking to the RSMA website as it is insecure (i.e. http prefix only and no security certificate) and it's my policy to not link to sites which may present risks to readers. Hopefully they will get this sorted before my next post about them.

NOTE: Despite writing this note on my review last year, the RSMA have still not got the website fixed - hence no link. See more on this below

So below you can read about:
how to see the exhibition
my Making A Mark Review of the Exhibition
Some practical points (for artists, the RSMA and the Mall Galleries)

How to see the Exhibition

RSMA Annual Exhibition 2026 - East Gallery

IN PERSON

at the Mall Galleries

Dates: until 26th September 2026
Hours: 10am - 5pm
Admission: Admission £7, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries and under 25s. Concessions available. No booking required.

ONLINE

Catalogue Cover

E-Catalogue: you can see some of the artwork and all of the listings. Or you can get the catalogue proper if you visit the exhibition.
Online Exhibition - on the Mall Galleries sales website
My photographs of the exhibition - on Facebook

East Gallery ( pics)
North Gallery (36 pics)
West Gallery (47 pics)
I'm thinking about doing an album of the work I particularly liked.....

Three of albums of photos of the RSMA Annual Exhibition 2026
on my Facebook Page

Plus there's been a variety of demonstrations on every day of the exhibition - with more this week. Details on the front page of RSMA website (scroll down). (I've no idea why they aren't on the Mall Galleries website! An oversight??)

If I've got time, this is the one I'd be going to.

View Monet and Renoir painting side by side

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:40:37 +0000

Room 41 in the National Gallery in London currently has two very famous paintings hanging next to one another. They are the two paintings created of La Grenouillère by Claud Monet and Pierre Renoir.

Monet and Renoir - Painting Side by Side

The National Gallery has a link to this exhibit - which continues until 22 September 2026 and is free to all visitors before the Renoir painting moves to a new exhibition (see end for more details)

The panorama of boats, bathers and people at La Grenouillère
(Left) Bathers at La Grenouillère by Claud Monet (1840-1926)
(Right) La Grenouillère by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841-1919

I've seen them hung like this before. However what is extremely helpful this time is the diagram which demonstrates how close they were to one another - but looking in different directions.

The two viewpoints of the small island on the River Seine
from the pier of the floating restaurant
Monet in orange and Renoir in grey

They are in effect stood a few feet apart and looking across each other's viewpoint.

Note how if you study the diagram and then look at the paintings next to one another, they are almost a panorama of the scene in front of both men. eg

Renoir includes the small island
while Monet crops just to the left of the island

The diagram is adapted from one contained in a book called Modernity and Modernism French Painting in the Nineteenth Century Yale University Press 1993 (available online for a low price)

Here are the two paintings in isolation.

For those who can't get to the London, I've also included the descriptions of the two paintings in the exhibit.

Bathers at La Grenouillère by Claud Monet (1840-1926)
oil on canvas
National Gallery, London

Painted quickly on the spot, this picture has a cursory quality. Adopting an unusual viewpoint and a high horizon, Monet draws the viewer's eye to the river and the boats in the foreground. A wooden pontoon cuts across the middle of canvas, breaking the traditional rules of composition. Rapid dabs of colour suggest bathers and strollers. Avoiding a literal transcription of reality, in this seminal work Monet captures the essence - the impression of a landscape.

La Grenouillère by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

oil on canvas

on loan from the National Museum Stockholm

Renoir chooses a different viewpoint, to the right of Monet's. He includes the little round islet known as the *camembert' and, to the far right, a floating restaurant. Unlike Monet, Renoir focuses his attention on the fashionable crowd in the centre, populating his canvas with delightful details: a child plays with a boat, while a dog snoozes in the shadow. "La Grenouillère was a perpetual party, and what an assortment of people!" he later recalled.

Two exhibitions of note are coming up - which relate in a way to these two paintings.

Two NEW Exhibitions in London

Royal Society of Marine Artists | Annual Exhibition 2026

North, West and East Galleries at the Mall Galleries - 16 Sep 2026 - 26 Sep 2026 - 10am to 5pm

The RSMA paint scenes associated with seas and tidal rivers. This particular scene would not have been possible as the Seine is only tidal to Rouen.

(note: the Royal Society of Marine Artists website is not secure i.e. http:// rather than https:// and I never link to insecure websites)

Renoir and Love

Explore the sun-dappled gardens and swirling dance halls of Paris through 40 paintings, brought together from collections across the world.

National Gallery, London

Dates: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027

Standard admission

£20 (off-peak, Sunday-Thursday)
£25 (Friday and Saturday, and all days in the first two weeks)
Under 18s go free

Wildife Artist of the Year 2026 - Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:26:32 +0000

I've now got all the names of those who won their categories - plus, of course, the overall winner and the runner up (which I did know).

All quotations come from the Wildlife Artist of the Year and/or website unless otherwise stated.
I'm assuming the description of the art is by the artist (until anybody tells me otherwise)
I'm going to use the text provided to me by the David Shepherd Foundation as to the Judges' reasons why an artwork won an award
Plus some of the pics come from the dswfwildart Instagram account
the rest are my pics.

The judging panel is made up of art professionals, artists and conservationists.

Note: I only do this for long-running and prestigious art competitions which attract an international entry! That's because not everybody can get to the exhibition.

For my review of the exhibition see Another Excellent "Wildlife Artist of the Year" Exhibition (2026)

For my photos of the exhibition see an album on my Facebook Page - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2026

Overall Winner of "Wildlife Artist of the Year"

Stefano Zagaglia - Evanescence the Biggest

This brings a

£5,000 cash prize,
the official title, and
a £5,000 conservation donation made in the winner's name.

WINNER OF WILDLIFE ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2026
Evanescence - The Biggest
oil on canvas, 100cm x 100cm
Stefano Zagaglia

The Label in the exhibition states

The elephant slowly emerges from the white, a powerful yet fragile presence. Only a portion of Its body is visible, while the rest dissolves in the light, suggesting a presence that might vanish. The tusks, a symbol of its strength and its doom, become the focus of the gaze. A reminder of how great and majestic this species is, but also how vulnerable it is to human actions.

This was the Judges comment

"A winning artwork isn’t always the loudest. Sometimes it is the one you cannot stop looking at, and in that context the artist of this beautiful piece has presented the Elephant, our largest living land mammal whose quiet strength never needs to shout. Stefano has brilliantly embraced the subject, most importantly the category and this competition in all its glory."
- WAY 2026 Judge

About the Artist

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Shepherd Wildlife Art (@dswfwildlifeart)

Stefano Zagaglia's website says nothing about him except why he paints wildlife. However

his Facebook Page indicates he lives in Milan where he expresses himself more fully about what the prize means to him
it did have this statement about "Evanescence"

The paint remains on the canvas as if struggling.

As if no longer certain it can remain.

It thins, surrenders to the light.

And the bodies of the animals approach the edges, dissolve.

As if suspended — between appearing and disappearing.

It’s a moment.

The moment before the end.

And perhaps, also,a last gesture.

A last attempt to hold them back.

Before they vanish completely.

Overall Runner Up

Prizes are

£1,000 cash prize and
a £1,000 conservation donation made in the runner-up's name.

Alberto Duvivier Tembo - Extincts

Another Excellent "Wildlife Artist of the Year" Exhibition (2026)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:05:22 +0000

I've attended - and reviewed - many Wildlife Artist of the Year (WAY) exhibitions, organised by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and held at the Mall Galleries each year.

There's lots to read below of interest to all aspiring and established wildlife artists.

Why visit this exhibition
Note for aspiring and participating artists
How to view the exhibition - in person and online
Some facts about the exhibition
How to view the exhibition - including links to my past reviews of this exhibition going back to 2008

TOMORROW I'm publishing a post about the Category winners.

Feature Wall in WAY 2026

However I deliberately missed the PV on Tuesday and visited on Wednesday. I found out from those who were there that it was, as I expected, absolutely packed out with people who love wildlife and wildlife art and were keen to buy good art - and it was very hot! Which is why I tend to duck PVs these days as my internal thermostat is out of whack at the moment.

The view from the stairs - lots and lots of visitors

When I got there on Wednesday morning, apart from an awful lot of red dots, I also saw an awful lot of people who were studying the artwork with enthusiasm.

As well they might as there was lots of excellent artwork to look at.

I took a lot of photos - of all the artwork - and have uploaded most of these to an album on my Facebook Page - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2026

Below is a review of the exhibition

If I can work out the category winners I'll do another post about those. (If somebody at DSWF can send me the details that would be much appreciated. I'd assumed they'd be on the website.)

Why visit this exhibition?

The end wall
- it took a long time for me to get a clear view of this
because of the number of visitors!

For me, what is unique about this exhibition is that very many of the wildlife artists selected for the exhibition tend to be those who have "gone the extra mile" in terms of capturing innate characteristics of their subject

Cat Crawl

Pastel, 47cm x 40cm

Lisa Gleim AAPLF, AFC, ASMA, AWAM, CGA, IAPS/MC, PSA, SAA, SPSM

This one for example, positively jumped off the wall at me, given the acute observation of primal cat behaviour when it comes to hunting - as every domestic cat owner will recognise. That and the fact I love pastel artwork!

and/or finding a new way to convey the essence of their subject.

Three oil paintings by Stefano Zagaglia
Winner of WAY 2026
(the winning painting is on the right)
Scale: all the paintings are 100 cm x 100 cm
note the plugs bottom left for scale

I think I probably see more innovation and novel ways of representing subject matter at this exhibition than any other. It just happens to be wildlife.

Portrait Award 2026: The 10 portraits I liked the most

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:42:20 +0000

This is a post about the ten portraits I like the best in the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery.

At the end I say which portrait will, I think, win the Visitors' Choice Award.

Portraits hanging in the HSFK Portrait Award competition
at the National Portrait Galllery

The Ten Portrait Paintings I liked the best

I've been reviewing the Portrait Award at the NPG since 2008 (see end) - which means I've looked at a lot of top quality portraits over the last 18 years.

After my first impression on the Awards Night Viewing, I generally know which portraits have made a big impression on me

Interestingly they are not necessarily the winner or even the winners.
It's something to do with being able to see the portraits in the context of an exhibition - and next to one another

The next morning I get to see them all over again at the Press View morning - which enables me to check out whether I still think the same
I then get to think about the portraits again while writing about the Artists with their Paintings (which used to be one very long post (eg Portrait Award 2025 - Artists with their paintings) but this year turned into five! (See the end for links to my blog posts). This always depends on whether the artist turned up AND wore their badge so I could spot them! (Some artists have not yet worked out yet that the buttons they are given to wear can generate them publicity!)

So what follows are:

the portraits which stuck in my head
the portraits which made me look more closely at them
portraits which include some clever composition and design
the ones with interesting sitters
the ones which generated an emotional response
a complete absence of prizewinners - except for one which I could not exclude

I should also mention that this list excludes some very good paintings which include things I really do NOT like - my classic example being tattoos - and hence got excluded simply because of that (given the title of this post!).

I've also noticed that a lot are by women artists - which is interesting. That's not why they were chosen though.

The Ten Portrait Paintings I liked the best

There is no rationale about the order in which they are listed - except I have ordered them by size - after the one which once seen can never be forgotten

The One which stuck in my head the most

Is your framer still in business?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 18:37:57 +0000

I'm writing this post because several notable fine art picture framing businesses and associated manufacturing plants have recently closed or entered administration due to high business rates, rising material costs, and economic pressures.

This post covers

why framers are going out of business and closing
how to protect your interests as an artist
how to find a decent framer for artwork

A bit of a shocker

My tulip wood frames from Picture Frames of Shaftesbury

I was casually looking through my Memories on my personal FB account yesterday - and the above pic came up in the context of an exhibition I was submitting artwork to in September - 12 years ago in 2014.

I idly put the name of the people "Picture Frames of Shaftesbury" who did an excellent job of my online ordered frames into Google - and nothing came up. Which I thought was a bit weird.

So I kept looking - and came across the announcement that they had closed down in 2025 and been dissolved (following voluntary liquidation) on 17 June 2026.

Being an accountant by profession, I went to Companies House and read the winding up documents and it was a very sad tale.

Then today I asked Google "framers going out of business" and they came straight back with yet more names and the reasons why

Google identified General Industry Pressures i.e.

Independent framers across the UK report that escalating business rates, minimum order thresholds for materials, and the cost-of-living crisis are making traditional high-street shops unsustainable.
plus highlighted...

Recent Picture Framer Closures

Picture Frames of Shaftesbury permanently closed in July 2025, resulting in six redundancies and the formal dissolution of the company on June 17, 2026.

The sudden closure left clients without their regular framing service and displaced local staff.

Darbyshire Ltd: Closed on May 8, 2026, after 34 years of operating as a prominent fine art framer for major artists and galleries.
Alec Drew Picture Frames Limited: This was a long-running specialist fine art framing business on Chelsea Green in London that closed and went into administration in June 2026 after 50 years in business.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Darbyshire Ltd (@darbyshireltd)

""Well that's all folks" After 50 years Alec Drew Picture Frames has closed"

Some like this chap have retired. Although his business had disappeared.

An extract from the Statement of Administrator's Proposal (i.e. the people who wind up the business under the Insolvency Act)

The Company is a long-established bespoke picture-framing business specialising in high quality custom framing, including conservation and museum-standard framing services. The Company built a reputation within the fine-art and framing sector for specialist craftsmanship, and its customer base spanned private individuals, collectors, artists and others seeking premium framing services.

Chelsea has experienced changes in recent decades, including rising property prices, changing retail patterns and increasing numbers of properties held as investment assets rather than occupied full-time residences. It is believed that these factors have contributed to reduced footfall for the business.

In addition, changing preferences toward digital photography and digital art display may have reduced the long-term demand for traditional picture-framing services compared with previous generations.

Macro-economic factors including uncertainty, inflation and pressure on household incomes can result in customers postponing non-essential purchases such as custom framing. Ever increasing costs for staffing, utilities and raw materials has resulted in tighter margins.

My recommendation

Final Call for Online Entries: RMS Annual Exhibition 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 08:15:00 +0000

The deadline for ONLINE ENTRIES for the 2026 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers is Friday 28th August 6pm (GMT)

The Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers is the world’s foremost organisation dedicated to the centuries-old tradition of miniature art.

What is Miniature Art

Although miniature art was considerably bigger when the society was first created, the current state of play is highlighted in this introduction to the art form by Anthony Lester (which comes from one of my earlier blog posts).

With a maximum size of 6 x 4 inches (15.24 x 10.16 cm), the painting of miniatures demands self-discipline, for where large pictures give some latitude in composition, miniatures are unforgiving of the least mistake; a tolerance of even a millimetre is hardly permitted.
The Gold Bowl Award winning work in 2025
plus the "Honourable Mentions"
which I had the honour of judging
with London art critic Tabish Khan
(bottom row second from left came home with me and now hangs in my hall!)

RMS Annual Exhibition 2026

Below is a quick summary of arrangements for

the exhibition
online entries
submission of selected artwork by non-members

Final Call: The Discerning Eye Exhibition 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:11:49 +0000

You have THREE DAYS LEFT to submit an entry to the Discerning Eye Exhibition which will be held at the Mall Galleries in November.
This prestigious annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London celebrates small-scale artworks by UK-based artists.

From call for entries by Parker Harris
amended by me to highlight the small nature of the artwork!

This is a very different sort of art exhibition - because it only contains small scale works - defined as a maximum diameter of 50cm in any direction.

In 2025, this exhibition featured

more than 730 artworks
by 529 artists,
selected from an outstanding 6,500 entries.
curated by six invited selectors

Parker Harris post

Below is what you need to know to enter

Essential Details

Deadline for Online Submissions ONLY: 5PM on Thursday, 27 August 2026 via https://artopps.co.uk/checkout/165
Exhibition: 13 to 21 November 2026 at the Mall Galleries in London.
Prizes: Over £9,000 available across multiple categories.
Who can exhibit?: emerging and established artists
Artwork Rules:

Small-scale works - This is defined as a maximum 50cm in any direction, INCLUDING the frame
in any medium
all pieces must be available for sale. (a commission of 40% + VAT will be charged on all sales)

How to Enter: You can submit your online application through ArtOpps https://artopps.co.uk/opportunities/discerningeye-26.

This the page with the RULES
This is the Page with answers to the FAQs
All entries must be entered online in the form of digital images and must be accompanied by the following information: Title, Medium, Year, Dimensions and Price.
all images must be either JPEG or PNG files, no larger than 5MB
if the work contains offensive material it's likely to be withdrawn from the exhibition (which is a new one on me - I can only assume Parker Harris has run into this issue on another exhibition)

Who runs/organises the competition?

The exhibition belongs to The Discerning Eye. (Note: The ING Bank which has previously sponsored the competition no longer seems to be involved)
It's organised by an art consultancy called Parker Harris
who use ArtOpps as the platform for dissemination of the rules etc and all digital submissions

Discerning Eye exhibition in the West Gallery last year
- which usually contains the exhibitions of four of the selectors

The Selectors in 2026

As always, this year's exhibition will be curated by six prominent figures from across the art world.

Each selector works independently, bringing their own distinct perspective to create six exhibitions within the whole. You cannot rely on looking at past exhibitions to know what sort of work would be suitable.

However you might try reviewing the selectors' instagram accounts....

Tributes to Anthony J Lester (1945-2026)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 11:11:30 +0000

To mark the passing of art critic, author and prizegiver Anthony J Lester on 19th August 2026, age 81.

I've known Anthony as an art critic and prizegiver and his wife Elizabeth Meek MBE PPRMS PPSWA for nearly 20 years, mostly from us all attending the same PVs at the Mall Galleries. However he's been doing what he was doing for the last 50 years. He was very definitely a constant of the national art society world in the UK and they were together one of the best known couples in it.

I've known for a while about his stage 4 pancreatic cancer for a while - he shared the news on his instagram

I'm borrowing the text from

except I've bullet pointed his contributions to the art world.

I'll miss seeing that red trilby hat which often came to the PVs too!

ANTHONY J LESTER
1945 - 2026

My beloved wonderful husband Tony, who was my best friend and soul mate, has very sadly passed away after a hard battle against pancreatic cancer. He was the very best and brilliant of men and will be very much missed by those who knew and loved him.
Art Critic, journalist
Curator,
Picture Expert on Antique Roadshow
Expert on BBC 'Flog it'
Radio Broadcaster,
Author of many books
Creator of the Anthony J Lester Award, presented at various charity art societies,
art researcher, and much much more.

This is the post by the Mall Galleries with which he has been much associated over the years

For over forty years Anthony has given massive support to the Federation of British Artists at Mall Galleries.

He curated several exhibitions on behalf of the FBA, including the much-acclaimed Pure Gold: 50 Years of the Federation of British Artists (2011), The Art of a Nation: Irish Works from the Allied Irish Banks and Crawford Art Gallery Collections (2015), and Winners: Award Winning Artists 2020-2022 (2022).

In 2011 he created the Anthony J. Lester Art Critic Award, which he presented at several exhibitions at Mall Galleries, including those of the New English Art Club and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Such support resulted in Anthony being made a
Companion of the Pastel Society and
Fellow of the Royal Society of British Artists.
In addition to this, he was
a long-time Member of the International Association of Art Critics and The Critics’ Circle and
a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and
Life Member of Chelsea Arts Club.

What I hadn't realised, until researching this post, was quite how many catalogues for both art societies and artists he'd compiled and written.

This tribute also goes on to mention something I didn't know.

Anthony was introduced to Elizabeth Meek at the Mall Galleries in 2004. He was organising and selecting the works for Not the Turner Prize, a £20,000 award for painting, while Elizabeth was arranging the annual exhibition of the Society of Women Artists. Their relation blossomed and in 2008 they married. Elizabeth introduced him to colourful hats ranging from blue to red to pink to yellow, and zany, multi-coloured shirts. The couple certainly stood out from the crowd and were frequently spotted at the gallery’s Private Views.
Commnts from those who knew him

I am so sorry to hear this Liz. He was such a lovely man and a great support to artists. His generosity, kindness and enthusiasm will be much missed. Sending you love. X Harriet Mead PSWLA

He was always so generous in chatting to artists at Mall Galleries PV’s, I always enjoyed talking to both Anthony and Elizabeth.
The Art World will miss him, what a wonderful, colourful character he was. Felicity Flutter RI

I am so sorry to hear this. He was so well loved and respected and did so much for artists. I send my love and thoughts. Lilias August RI

A final thought - I'm passing on

A few years back Antony and Elizabeth "retired" and went to live on the coast in Sussex.

However, on meeting them at subsequent PVs, I learned from them an invaluable tip about the wisdom of keeping a place in London.

You want to be living somewhere with very good hospitals within very easy reach as you get older and your health starts to cause concern.

Anthony was supported by the Royal Marsden Hospital at the end. I'll let him have the final word.

I am being treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital and cannot praise the consultants, doctors and nurses enough for their professionalism and kindness. My message to everyone is enjoy every day - it's precious.

Call for Entries: The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2027

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:45:41 +0000

The Call for Entries for the 128th Exhibition by the Pastel Society in January 2027 has been published on the Mall Galleries website.

Artists working in pastel and contemporary dry media are invited to submit their work for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2027

This post summarises what you need to know.

Submissions are ONLINE ONLY and
open from 17 August to 20 November 2026

Benefits of Exhibiting with The Pastel Society

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

included in the catalogue
seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a LOT of visitors
viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
eligible for a number of prizes & awards - and some have significant cash awards (see below)if you want to become a member, you first need to get exhibited via the open entry
may well sell - but ONLY if you pay attention to what I have to tell you below about pricing and sales!!

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2027 | Key Facts and Dates

What drew me to the Pastel Society was the thought of being surrounding by other people fascinated by dry media in particular
Curtis Holder

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 27th January - Saturday 6th February 2027
Private View (invite only): Wednesday 27th January 2027 - 5pm to 8pm, official opening at 6:30pm

Submissions: ONLINE ONLY and open until 12 noon Friday 20 November 2026
Notification of selection: Friday 4th December 2026, 12 noon
Receiving Day (if selected): Saturday 16th January 2027 10am to 5pmCollection of unsold work: Thursday 11 February 2027 10am to 5pm
Awards and Prizes - see listing near the end of this post

One of the walls in the Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition in 2026

Call for Entries

What you read below is most - but not all - the terms and conditions of entry and information about what and artist must and must not do.

It's down to you to read the Full Details, Entry Terms & Conditions

Find out more about how to enter:

The return of the visitor map!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 18:26:58 +0000

I've been using counters for visits and pageviews for the last 20 years. I like quick information - but I also want indepth information.

A Quick Look - on the blog

For many years, I have used clustrmaps.com to provide a visual map in my side column of where visitors to my blog come from.

I've always been completely amazed that I can sit typing at home in East London and the words that get published on my blog get read by people living all over the world - literally on every continent (bar Antarctica).

However, very sadly Clustrmaps has died.

Hence I was very pleased today to find a product which seeks to replicate it. Indeed I think it might even be the same team with a different name as they seem to have the same ethos - which is one I like and very much approve of.

Map My Visitors was created by a small team — just three guys working together. We are passionate about making web analytics accessible to everyone. We understand that tracking website traffic is essential for businesses, bloggers, and individuals, but the cost and complexity of existing solutions can be extremely overwhelming. That's why we set out on a mission to create a hit counter service that is not only accurate, fast, and responsive but also user-friendly and affordable.

You can find out more about them and what they do here.

Introducing MapMyVistors

MapMyVisitors

MapMyVisitors has a real time visitor map widget - and produces

either a map of where all your visitors come from (unless they are blocking their location)
or a Globe widget (which moves!) I'm not a fan of things which move!

Visitors are either a red dot ie past visitors) or an amber or green dot ie visited recently

You can see the map near the top of the right hand side column.

Today - with just a few hours of stats on it, it looks like this

ON MY BLOG - as a widget

MapMyVisitors Widget
This is an enlarged version of the widget in the side column
after a few hours (i.e. installed on 19th August)

ON MY DASHBOARD

MapMyVisitors: This is the map on my screen re the dashboard.
Below it lists all the various locations

Statcounter

I cannot remember when I first started using Statcounter - but my stats suggest it must have been nearly 20 years ago.

I also use Statcounter to provide an incredibly detailed map - which allows me to drill down to region and city and ISP - and allowed me to identify I was being absolutely hammered by visits from people in South East Asia earlier this year when my stats went totally wild for two weeks.

This is today's map for the last 7 days

Statcounter: Visitor Map for the last 7 days
- with lots of the countries labelled

HOWEVER they don't have a nice widget sized one for my blog which I can look at really easily - hence my use of MapMyVisitors

The Big Deal - a programme about selling art

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 17:58:46 +0000

The Big Deal with Steph McGovern - Media Release

A new programme about art was broadcast last week on BBC1. It's a novel idea - about seeing whether complete novices can become art dealers!

The Apprentice for the Art World?

My questions as I started to watch concerned what is it actually about and what is it trying to do. Specifically:

Is it educational or not?
Is it going to be informative about the business side of the art world?
will it help artists understand better how to deal with the business side of art?
Or is it just a game show with a spin?
Or as characterised on the programme is this "The Apprentice for the Art World"

The proposition seems to be "art is no different to any other business".

How would you describe The Big Deal?

It’s like The Apprentice for the art world, but the deals are all real, and it’s as much about the hustle as it is about art.

So maybe educational about the sort of knowledge and skills you need to do well - much the same as happens with Sir Alan Sugar in in "The Apprentice"?

According to the media brief

Seven pairs of trainee art dealers from around the UK are putting their creativity, negotiating and profit-making skills to the test in the highly competitive art world

The bottom line is the seven pairs compete to win £50,000 of "brilliant British art" (I spotted a David Shrigley)

The Seven Trainee Dealers

Back row: Bella, Ollie, Liam, Gavin, Phil, Ellie
Middle row: Charles, Darren, Steph McGovern, Cordelia de Freitas, Claire, Aaron
Front row: Deborah, Rebeckah, Daisy, Rebecca

Now realistically, none of them are actually trainee art dealers! Their backgrounds seem to be completely random.

However they do, of course, cover all the demographic and diversity bases. (Do you get as bored as I do ticking all the boxes for every dimension covered? Disability - tick; Gay - tick; Black - tick)

Their media profiles suggest very little involvement in the art world in terms of making, reviewing, buying, selling, collecting or anything else.

UPDATE: After I published - and after I got some odd comments on Facebook from Art Dealers who seemed very offended by the programme - I went looking and found what are "said to be the criteria used" for those who were selected to be trainee art dealers

The production team selected contestants who met specific criteria:
No professional experience: None of the participants had a background or professional history in buying, selling, or trading art. [1]
Walks of life: Producers recruited ordinary people from diverse backgrounds across the UK who showed a strong competitive drive, natural curiosity, and a willingness to learn. [1, 2, 3]
Auditioned pairs/individuals: They were chosen through standard casting processes handled by production company Stellify Media to test how well their interpersonal dynamics and business instincts translated to the high-stakes contemporary art market. [1, 2]

So is that clear? NONE of the participants had any experience or history as art dealers. They are complete amateurs.

This, of course, is where the competition starts for the viewers - spotting those likely to go to the end!

Darren (43) and Charles (40) - characterised as the "go getters". They reminded me of second hand car salesmen. I'm not expecting much of them.
Ollie (26) and Bella (29) - siblings who are trying to get a business off the ground. Seem to be tuned into what young people like
Claire (59) and Aaron (36) - Welsh friends Claire and Aaron are from Pembrokeshire and have a background in sales and the building industry. She's obviously the mover and shaker. I think he's along for the ride.
Gavin (32) and Liam (28) - Best friends Gavin and Liam from Belfast have an interest in graffiti art and want to learn more about the art world. I'm expecting them to leave early.
Deborah (42) and Rebeckah (42) - Friends Deborah and Rebeckah, from London, hope their eye for fashion can would translate successfully into selecting and trading art pieces. I think they may go far - possible winners.
Phil (74) and Ellie (28) - the Dad and daughter team from the West Midlands love visiting art galleries together.
Daisy (27) and Rebecca (61) - Mother and daughter Rebecca and Daisy from Warwickshire work together on the family farm – which specialises in camel hire. I also think this couple could go far. They seem to have a good eye.

The programme has two constants throughout the series.

MAKING A MARK

Review: Episode 4 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

PAOTY Episode 4

Episode 4: The Sitters

Episode 4: The Artists

Episode 4: Self Portrait Submissions

THANKS for getting me through my Spinal Shocker

THANK YOU

Review: Episode 3 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

PAOTY Episode 3

Episode 3: The Sitters

The Aberfan Portraits

The Pros and Cons of Online Exhibitions for Art Societies (ref. SOFA Winter Exhibition)

Artworks

The SOFA Winter Exhibition

Review: Episode 2 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

PAOTY Episode 1

Episode 2: The Sitters

Episode 2: The Artists

Self Portrait Submissions

Review: "Future Ruins" by Michael Landy at the Sir John Soane Museum

Future Ruins

Review: Episode 1 Portrait Artist of the Year 2026

About the Context

The Competition

The Series Commission - for the National Portrait Gallery

The Judges

PAOTY Episode 1

Episode 1: The Sitters

Episode 1: The Artists

Review: 63rd Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition

About the Exhibition

"Turning Thirteen" by Frances Bell wins HSFK Portrait Award Visitor's Choice

Visitor's Choice Award - Frances Bell

Call for Entries: Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027

Series 13 of Portrait Artist of the Year starts 7th October 2026

So what's different and what's the same

What's the same?

What's different?

The Celebrity Sitters for Portrait Artist of the Year

Final Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Oil Painters

Call for Entries - ROI Annual Exhibition 2026

Review: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2026

So below you can read about:how to see the exhibitionmy Making A Mark Review of the ExhibitionSome practical points (for artists, the RSMA and the Mall Galleries)

How to see the Exhibition

ONLINE

View Monet and Renoir painting side by side

Monet and Renoir - Painting Side by Side

Two NEW Exhibitions in London

Royal Society of Marine Artists | Annual Exhibition 2026

Renoir and Love

Wildife Artist of the Year 2026 - Winners

Overall Winner of "Wildlife Artist of the Year"

Stefano Zagaglia - Evanescence the Biggest

About the Artist

Overall Runner Up

Alberto Duvivier Tembo - Extincts

Another Excellent "Wildlife Artist of the Year" Exhibition (2026)

Why visit this exhibition?

Portrait Award 2026: The 10 portraits I liked the most

The Ten Portrait Paintings I liked the best

The Ten Portrait Paintings I liked the best

The One which stuck in my head the most

Is your framer still in business?

A bit of a shocker

Recent Picture Framer Closures

My recommendation

Final Call for Online Entries: RMS Annual Exhibition 2026

What is Miniature Art

RMS Annual Exhibition 2026

Final Call: The Discerning Eye Exhibition 2026

Essential Details

The Selectors in 2026

Tributes to Anthony J Lester (1945-2026)

Commnts from those who knew him

A final thought - I'm passing on

Call for Entries: The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2027

Benefits of Exhibiting with The Pastel Society

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2027 | Key Facts and Dates

Call for Entries

So below you can read about:
how to see the exhibition
my Making A Mark Review of the Exhibition
Some practical points (for artists, the RSMA and the Mall Galleries)