Two of our Year 13 artists have been recognised by the panel of judges who award the prestigious Anna Airy Award each year, with Grace N winning the top prize and Harry B finishing as a runner up. Grace’s portrait of a girl and her dog which is titled “Friends” was selected because of the attention to detail, skill with oil paint and vibrancy. Harry’s digitally created sculpture, however, is a mixed media piece which has been built in different stages and then pulled together using photo editing software, sculpture and actual fire.
While the awards are usually presented in person and exhibited in front of a crowd at the Ipswich Marina, this year, due to Covid-19, the Ipswich Arts Society has taken the decision not to display the artworks and run the usual exhibition launch but to do this online as they had to in 2020.
Head of Art, Sue Tansley, said: “This year the Ipswich Arts Society asked us to nominate our winner and our runner up from the school and present them with the pupils’ work for the Ipswich Art Society to assess.
“Because we know the Ipswich Arts Society are usually quite traditional, we knew that there were some artists and forms that they would not recognise in the way that we do. But here at Framlingham, our pupils are so creative that they use a variety of different media to create their art. So in the end we chose two very different artists in Grace and Harry.
“Grace is a fabulous painter. She is a traditional oil painter, which is exactly the style which the Anna Airy award usually recognises. The Ipswich Arts Society have put together a website to showcase the works from each school. We were up against some of the best art schools in the area, so we did well to have our artists accepted. But both Grace and Harry really earned their recognition as their work is of a high standard.”
The artworks are displayed on the Anna Airy Award website which has been built specifically to display the works from schools across the region. Click here to view the full site.
Winning artist, Grace N, said: “Mrs Tansley told me she was putting me forward for the award and then I’d heard I’d won and that was just great. I paint whenever I have spare time. If I’m not playing hockey, I’m usually in the art room painting. For me art is a complete release. During lockdown, I painted every day I think. I found it quite difficult because I like to be around people but painting was kind of my escape.”
Click here to view the full list of winners and runners up for the 2021 Anna Airy Award.
