Update. And the winner is….

Theo Phaphitis presenting winner Tom Mead with his prize

It was a wonderful and quite lavish awards ceremony. Theo Paphitis must be congratulated for hosting this excellent addition to the Arts calendar. Tom Meads was the deserved winner with his painting ‘Stoic’. You can read more about the three different winners here: theopaphitis.com/my-blog
What I particularly enjoyed about the judges’ selection was that they chose works that actually followed the theme “connection” – not always the case with themed shows.

theo paphitis standing next to the painting Man and Woman

Head judge Theo Paphitis in front of my painting

One very nice touch was how, after the awards ceremony, they then gave each artist a goody bag full of art materials. I’ve not seen that in any competitions I’ve been shortlisted for before, and I was incredibly pleased with that little surprise. I left feeling like a winner. Artists are so easy to please 🙂

London Graphic Centre is a treasure trove of art materials in the heart of London. Here is their website: londongraphics.co.uk

The Painting I Couldn’t Let Go: Revisiting “Man and Woman” a Decade Later

Some paintings are finished the moment the last brushstroke is applied. Others take a little longer. For my painting, “Man and Woman,” it took over a decade of quiet dissatisfaction before I could finally call it complete.

This piece was always deeply personal. It was the last in a series I created to honour my late partner after she passed away from a long illness. I had planned the paintings while she was still with me—taking reference photos, making sketches—but her poor health meant the canvases remained blank. After she was gone, a surge of activity propelled me into the studio to bring them to life, to record our relationship in paint.

Yet, while the other paintings in the series felt resolved, “Man and Woman” never did. For ten years, it troubled me. While it was technically faithful to the photographs I had worked from, it had failed to capture a true likeness of her. Her spirit wasn’t there.

Finally, I decided I had to rework it. What started as a plan for a small amendment quickly became a complete repainting of the entire surface.

The challenge, of course, is that an artist doesn’t stand still. My technique has evolved significantly since 2009. My palette is brighter, I use different mediums, and my approach to glazes is more restrained. In many ways, I was a different painter confronting an old ghost.

Original painting on left, with umbers and ochre dominating the palette

Interestingly, the biggest change came from something I’d lost: the original reference photos. I had to paint my late partner’s face almost entirely from memory. This would have terrified me a decade ago, but my work has grown less beholden to photographic accuracy. I’ve learned to trust my memory and my hand. Paradoxically, by letting go of the exact reference, I believe I found a much truer likeness.

Looking at the two versions side-by-side, the changes might seem subtle to some. But for me, they are monumental. The revision is finally the painting I set out to create in 2009. It was a long road to get here, but it was worth every moment to finally do her memory justice. The nagging doubts are gone, and I feel happy to share it with the world.

Edit: “Man and Woman” has since been shortlisted for the LGC Art Prize 2023
A recent post about the competition can be found here: LGC Art Prize