hilliard society international miniature art exhibition

The Hilliard Society's annual Exhibition of Miniature Art opened at the weekend in Wells, Somerset and I was able to go down for the Private View on Friday and to demonstrate at the show on Saturday. It was a lovely surprise to see my painting of the chimp, 'The Thinker', hugely blown up on a banner outside the Town Hall! 

The Private View in full swing (Photo courtesy of Anthony Taylor)

The weather was absolutely glorious and the Private View was very well attended. It was super to meet so many artists and collectors, as well as those behind the scenes who work so incredibly hard to put the whole exhibition together. The work on display was outstanding; several people commented that the bar seems to raise every year with the quality simply getting better and better. The Hilliard prides itself on being a very friendly society and that was certainly the case, everyone was very welcoming and the atmosphere was terrific. The show was offically opened by Micheal Eavis CBE, founder of the nearby Glastonbury Festival.

I have nine peices in the show and was deeply honoured to recieve two awards, the Sue Burton Memorial Award for Best in Show ('The Thinker') and the Mary Scott-Kestin Award for Animals and Wildlife ('Sanderling'). It was also very humbling as I felt there were so many other paintings that deserved awards and I would not want to try and judge them myself. Ever! 

It was also great to finally meet Erica Youngman who won the President's Choice Award for 'The Grand Canal at Dusk'. I've loved her work for years and it is even more impressive in real life.

Next to the sculpture case (photo courtesy of Anthony Taylor)

In addition to the artwork in the show, there was also a fabulous display of miniature sculpture by Paul Eaton (I'm standing next to his work in the photo), beautifully intricate lacquer boxes from Russia which are for sale, and an impressive selection of contemporary miniatures from a substantial private collection which included several RMS Gold Bowl winners. In total there are 374 pieces in the exhibition from 98 artists around the world.

On Saturday the square in front of the Town Hall comes to life with the bustling weekly market and again the sun shone throughout. I spent the day demonstrating along side John Beach which was great fun. I haven't done it before but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and chatting to the visitors. John was a seasoned pro having demonstrated both at the Hilliard and the RMS in the past, and it was certainly nice to have such entertaining company throughout the day.

The show was busy and sales seemed to be good and there was the added bonus of popping out to bask in the glorious sunshine every so often. Wells looked wonderful as always. I'm particularly grateful to Roz Pierson and new Hilliard Society president Sara Whitehouse for going out of their way to make me welcome.

The exhibition runs until this coming Sunday when it closes at 5pm. If you can manage to get along it is well worth it and there are also demonstrations throughout the week. Miniature art is highly collectable and there is a wealth of choice for all tastes and budgets on display.

This year, for the first time ever, the whole exhibition is also available to view online at the Hilliard Society's new website - so if you can't get along in person it's the next best thing! Click here to see the show and the full list of award winners.