My experience at Landscape Artist of the Year, Wild Card Day

I'm a big fan of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, and this year I was thrilled to be selected to complete in their Wild Card day where one lucky contestant was selected from around 50, to be part of the show for the following year, in addition to the other contestants already selected.

We were asked to meet by the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol at in the morning. I am a person who likes to plan things out, so Dave and I drove up the day before and had a recce of the location. We hadn't been told exactly where we would be painting from, so Dave and I even tried to guess the specific spot so that I could start conjuring up some pleasing compositions in my head! I am used to painting to strict deadlines, after the filming I did with ITV for Unwind with ITV earlier this year, and last year, so I was excited to take on this four hour challenge and see what I could achieve under the pressure and the time given. We arrived early for the shoot and met all the other artists, and then it was time to find a good spot for painting. I was super excited and full of butterflies!

We painted for four hours whilst the public and the judges milled about sharing their thoughts and opinions on everyone's work. It was so fun spending the day amongst other artists companionably painting the lovely scene in front of us, sharing in nature and our love of art.

Sadly I didn't make it to the finalists, but I am thrilled with what I created in the four hours allotted, and it was such an exhilarating day!