A word from the winner

9th August 2012

Winner of the Essex Schools Showcase For The Arts comments on her passion for art and winning the showcase.

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see (Edgar Degas)…

Art is alive and to me painting will never be dead. For me art is about revolutionising or adapting the techniques of the old greats to transform them into something new in the hope that one day your own pieces will be as equally aspiring to others. Painting has been around for century’s and can be dated back to the Aurignacian period, approximately 40,000 years ago in the form of European cave paintings, Since then painting has transcended into many forms and styles.

The particular piece showcased in the Chelmsford art show was however primarily influenced through my favourite Renaissance artists including the works of Artemisia Gentileschi, Caravaggio and Rembrandt who’s work, adopting the technique or chiaroscuro can be seen in the style of my own pieces. The use of dark shadows and contrasting illumination captures the human form in such a way that resonates emotion.

As for the exhibition it has inspired me to take my art further, to be more forward in placing my art in front of an audience and within a public environment of which I now aim to do again in the near future.

Vicky Cracknell from The Billericay School, winner of the Essex Schools Showcase for the Arts.  Below is her winning entry.