Last weekend’s painting competition in Hebden Bridge was actually great fun. There were about 40 artist in and around the town all producing pictures in a few hours. We were very lucky to have lovely weather which certainly benefitted all of those taking part. During the day many people stopped to talk about what the artists were doing and a good number of the artists had the chance to meet each other, and look at the work in progress whilst stretching legs and picking up refreshments from some of the excellent local cafés in the town.

At the end of the day there was a brief exhibition, the judging and awards, which all took place at Northlight Studios. The whole thing was organised by Greg from “Craft and Canvas” and were some excellent prizes from the shop and from Wallace Seymour who produce high quality paints for artists.

For my own part the proces of working with oil paint for the first time proved to be enjoyable and a great learning experience. I now have a completed A3 sized oil painting of the old footbridge in the middle of town and I’m pleased with it. A few weeks ago I wouldn’t have expected to try oil paints but now I’m busy deciding what to paint next.