A Grand Day Out

venturing south of the river

When you come from London, you either belong to the north or the south – of the river that is. I was born in Hackney, which is in the East End, within the sound of Bow Bells, yet it is North London that I identify with, because Hackney despite being east is on the north side of the Thames. In forays south I tend to stay close to the river keeping the opposite bank well within sight, the South Bank, Tate Modern, the Globe, Burrough Market and occasionally if I am feeling very adventurous as far as the Fashion and Textile museum in Bermondsey. It felt alien to me that three of my sons at one time or another after leaving home all lived in flats in south London, one of them is still in Camberwell and another near Bromley. Visiting has always felt like venturing into foreign territory. So it was with trepidation that back at the end of March I found myself making my way well south of the Thames to Clapham Junction which is not even on the underground network. But Battersea Arts Centre beckoned.

Battersea Arts Centre on a rainy day in March

Battersea Arts Centre, which is the former town hall, has been a home for innovative art, theatre and performance for over fifty years. It is a beautifully restored building designed by E W Mountford and it originally opened in 1893. It is now Grade II listed for its architectural significance as well as its role in the birth of both the suffragette and labour movements. A fire in 2015 largely destroyed much of the grand hall and surrounding rooms and corridors, but it has been sensitively restored and preserved in an almost Pompeiian post disaster richness. The crumbling plaster revealing layers of history gives a feeling of decaying splendour.

Now turn me out of pretty much any north London underground station and I will find my way. I left London aged about four and we spent the next five years in East Anglia. We returned to Stoke Newington for a year or so at the end of my primary school years, after which we moved out to south Hertfordshire, but I continued to attend school in London, and I had my first Saturday job in Wood Green. So although I never spent that many years of my childhood living in the city or its suburbs there were enough treks ‘up town’ to go shopping, spend time with friends or to visit the sights that it is all very familiar. I then spent my first years out of university working just off Oxford Street and early married life in the northern suburbs. I know my way around.

But as I emerged from Clapham junction onto the very busy Lavender Hill I hadn’t a clue which way to turn. Google maps confirmed my instinct to turn left was correct and after a five minute walk in the rain, during which I still wasn’t entirely convinced, I arrived at my destination. I was at Battersea Arts Centre to watch a day of filming for Portrait Artist of the year which I laughingly joked was my consolation prize. As you may know I entered the competition once again in January this year and for the third year running I failed to get in, but after receiving the email telling me my own entry hadn’t quite made the grade, I was offered tickets to my choice of filming days. It seemed an opportunity too good to be missed.

After security checks and a chance to hang up our coats we were issued wrist bands that allowed us to wander in and out of the hall where filming was taking place. It was all incredibly relaxed and other than being told we might be asked to move out of the way of the judges or the pretty hefty camera equipment the only other rule was we weren’t to put anything out on social media etc until the TV programme aired, hence no mention from me for seven months. It was all very trusting, unlike when I attended filming of ‘Bake Off Extra Slice’ when were weren’t allowed phones and had to sign a document swearing us to secrecy.

The nine submission portraits

It was fascinating to watch the whole filming process. I had booked the afternoon session as the morning audience had to be there by 8 am, so by the time we were let in most of the artists, the judges and the three celebrity sitters were all at lunch which gave us a chance to see the nine participating artists’ submission portraits. Personally I thought they varied hugely in technique and skill. For some it was obvious why they were selected and others… well I don’t know what the selection criteria were, but they wouldn’t necessarily have been my choice. I’m not sure if I was reassured that my own rejected portrait didn’t seem out of place with these nine self portraits or disappointed that it wasn’t selected when some of these were.

The self-portrait I submitted this year… that didn’t gain me a place on the show!

One of the artists, Lloyd, whose self-portrait I really liked, had come back early and was happy to chat. He told me it was his tenth year of applying and he was hugely encouraging and supportive in urging me to apply again.

Lloyd working on his portrait

Slowly the sitters came back in and took their places once more and the artists got back to work in a variety of media ranging from oils, acrylics, pencils and ink pens. I did wonder if I would recognise the ‘celebrities’ as usually on this type of show I have no idea who most people are, but I did know two out of three which wasn’t bad.

Hannah Waddingham

Hannah Waddingham I didn’t know but she is a British singer and actor probably best known for her part in Ted Lasso which I have never seen, and for co-hosting the Eurovision song contest which I don’t watch but she was a very commanding sitter, stunningly attractive in her blue suit.

Saskia Reeves

There was also actress Saskia Reeves, another star of many TV shows and films I have never seen, but her face was at least familiar, and finally there was the very familiar TV presenter Richard Madeley of ‘Richard and Judy’ fame. Interestingly he was the most engaging, interacting with the artists and audience unlike any of the other famous faces present including presenter Stephen Mangan and the judges!

Richard Madeley… looking far grumpier than he was! Obviously having a reflective moment

For the competition the artists have four hours to complete their portraits, yet they are there filming all day. There is a lot of stopping and starting so that the sitters can get breaks, interviews can be filmed, and various other business can be conducted, but all the time the audience were allowed to wander around freely. I can’t imagine how immensely difficult it must be for any of them to get into the flow of their paintings. It’s very easy as a viewer to criticise the end results but making a portrait that captures not only a likeness, but also something of the personality of a sitter is extraordinarily difficult at the best of times, never mind in these circumstances. As we approached judging time, there was a call for audience members to stand around actor Stephen Mangan the presenter of the show.

A make up artist came to powder his nose, the camera rolled, and he announced the iconic words “Artists step away from your easels”. I was stood behind his right shoulder at the time grinning like a maniac I suspect but I may never know…

Tai Shan Shierenberg and Kathleen Soriano (with someone vaguely familar between them!)

We then walked around the room as the three judges, award winning artist Tai Shan Shierenberg, whose work hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, Kathleen Soriano, art curator and Kate Bryan, art historian, whittled the nine portraits down to a commendable shortlist of three.

The three shortlisted portraits with the original submissions

There was then more filming comparing the portraits done on the day with the original submissions, a break for the judges to go off for a conflab and after what seemed like a lot of waiting the winner of this heat was announced. Paul’s portrait of Saskia Reeves was a worthy winner.

Paul with his winning portrait of Saskia Reeves

And the reason why I thought I may never know if I have been captured on camera is I have been caught on the hop. For weeks I have been watching social media etc to see when the new series would air but there has been nothing other than promises of ‘returns in the autumn’. I wasn’t too worried as I was under the misconception that the episode I saw filmed would go out third, as it was the third heat to be filmed. So when I picked up last weeks Sunday paper to read that Sky Portrait Artist of the Year would return on Wednesday 9^th October with Richard Madeley etc. I was unprepared. Sadly I was out on Wednesday evening and although Sky Arts is a free view channel, to watch it on catch up requires a Sky subscription which we don’t have. And our television came with the ark so I couldn’t even record it either. Maybe you spotted me if you were watching on Wednesday evening?

As it happens, the show does repeat the following evening, but my friend also very kindly recorded it, so we had a fun evening on Thursday trying to spot me and playing at being art critics.  Even if I hadn’t managed to watch this week’s episode, I had a brilliant day out back in March, it definitely didn’t feel like a consolation prize, and I would recommend it to anyone.