I had a great time recently taking part in the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year (LAOTY) 2026.  I was lucky enough to win a place in a pod in Crow Park in Keswick – how handy is that for me, some people had travelled from as far as Wiltshire and Cornwall and way up Scotland, while all I had to do was pop in the car for a bit.

It was the hottest day of the year. There were 8 of us artists who were given a pod to work in, there were also 50 others -‘ the wildcards’ who had to fend for themselves, and sit out in the sun, We’d to be there for 7am and it was after 7pm when I left, so it was a long day.  Everyone had a brilliant time and we were well looked after. We were given our painting challenge, which we could choose to accept or not, but warned that the judges took a dim view of those who did something else entirely!