Painting Sheepscape, 2023.
Well, this was absolutely a first for me. I applied to paint a sheep for the RHS at the last minute, photoshopping two of my paintings into the templates. I really had no expectation of being selected so was both thrilled and terrified when I got the acceptance email.
There then followed some frantic research and a long chat with a really helpful member of staff at Cass Art. £300 later I had the materials I thought I would need. I spent around £50 on spray paints and the rest on acrylics and brushes.
We were all brought into a large hanger on the first day to meet our sheep, helpfully placed in a sheep pen with hay on the concrete floor. This was great for the visuals but not so wonderful for the artists.
Having never done this before, I hadn't a clue what I was doing and a film and camera crew were wandering around. I decided I would throw myself into it. I got the spray paints out and made a start, showing a confidence I did not feel. Two days later, I was happy with what I had produced. It was amazing watching all the other artists around me develop their designs. One woman spent over 100 hours on hers.
What I have learnt for next time is to prepare your substrate; sand down and re-gesso the surface. I had quite a few places where the paint began to flake as I had almost finished working on Sheepscape. This was frustrating. Secondly, enjoy it. These opportunities to work alongside other artists are rare.
