People’s Choice Award Winner
Posted on Feb 16, 2025WSA 74th Annual Exhibition at The New Art Gallery Walsall
During the WSA 74th Annual Exhibition, the public vote for their favourite artwork and I was delighted to find out that my painting ‘Primordial Dank Woodland’ had been selected as the publics favourite. As an artist we are always full of self doubt and constantly striving to be better artists, I had used some new techniques, and I struggle between being too abstract or figurative.
Primordial Dank Woodland
The painting is based on my walks on Cannock Chase walking through the ancient woodland at Brocton and the ancient oaks there. Nearby you can find the Tolkien Tree and the Tree of Skulls. There is so much history of kings of centuries past, Kings hunting the deer, Roman remains, and medieval Castle Ring.
Here trees are falling, the new growth are beech and birch. The ground is waterlogged with the leaves and fallen trees rotting, covered in an orange fungus spreading in amoebic like shapes.
I have tried to convey the smells of the cold damp rotting vegetation. It was a damp misty morning and the sun was trying to break through, and it felt like the trees were struggling to exist. Naked it was easy to see the struggle for life and survival the twisting and writhing of each trunk and branch.
I would like to say an big thank you to everyone who took the time to vote that visited The New Art Gallery from 12th December 2024 – 2nd February 2025.