College Artist Has Brush With Success
Katie, with two of latest works (courtesy of The Courier, Dundee © D C Thomson & Co Ltd).
Release date: 08/05/2012
A Dundee College artist has had one of her works chosen for a major portrait exhibition in London.
Katie Sawers, who lectures part time at the Gardyne Campus, has had a work chosen – from 1300 entries – for the National Portrait Exhibition taking place at the Mall Galleries, near Trafalgar Square.
Katie’s work, entitled Anne, is a portrait of a close friend’s mother and is slightly unusual the artist enjoys painting oils on a copper sheet.
“I leave some of the metal showing as I like the way the copper glow complements the subject,” explains the lecturer.
“Although a long-established technique it isn’t used a lot nowadays but it seems to be gaining in popularity, certainly with my clients.”
The painting will hang alongside portraits of the queen, who is patron of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, celebrities and major public figures.
The artist is thrilled to have her work chosen for this exhibition as, not only was there fierce competition to enter, a substantial number of the works chosen are reserved for society members.
The portrait is also eligible for some serious cash prizes including the £10,000 Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture and the £3000 de Laszlo Foundation Award.
“I’m just really pleased to have my work selected for the exhibition,” says Katie.
“Although I’ve exhibited before, I’m mainly a portrait painter and portrait painters don’t sell a lot of their works from galleries – folk don’t tend to want to buy a painting of someone else,” laughed the Monifieth-based artist.
“Actually I recently decided to spend time generating more ideas and creating more works, maybe branching out a little, but I have to balance art with brining up a three-old, and little Oscar takes precedence!”