Sutton Landscape Artists of the Year 2023 in Poulter Park

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A woman sits with a little boy and girl standing with crayons among the green vegetation on the bank of the river Wandle

2023 was the first year Sutton Landscape Artist of the Year came to Poulter Park. We had some mixed weather on the day ending with torrential rain!

Read on to find out how our intrepid 20 artists aged 4 to 84 rose to meet the challenge!

Rivers, playgrounds, rugby and pylons

We loved that the park means something different to everyone. But there were some motifs that kept popping up. The river Wandle, our rare chalk stream, featured in lots of our art, including all 3 winning pictures. And the playground was a recurring theme. But an unexpected feature were our stunning electricity pylons, bringing a brutalist modernism to the landscapes.

Blue outlined pylon dominates the scene with people and trees picked out in other colours.
A delicate Chinese landscape style picture with pencil figures, ink trees and delicate washes of green and brown watercolour. Bottom left is an impression of a red seal with Chinese characters.
A pencilled pylon rises into a blue sky behind bushes and trees of various greens. The foreground is grass with a fence between it and the bushes.

Intrepid artists

We were so impressed with our artists, who, despite the threat of rain set up with umbrellas and snacks to create their beautiful artworks. Here’s some of them at work dotted all around the park.

A young family sit on the grass with art materials under a grey sky
Gemma is blond and wears jeans and a yellow waterproof stands facing her easel with her back to Bishopsford House, 2 blocks of flats made of brick in the middle of the park.
Three artists sit in a line along the river path with a small white scottie dog
An artists sits on a camp chair on a path with trees behind her with her easel on her lap holding a blue umbrella over her head
Artist sits low in her chair by the riverbend. Purple Buddleia bloom on the opposite bank. There is a striped red and white umbrella to her right
A mother and daughter paint sitting at a table while a black and white dog lies on the grass facing the camera
Artist is just visible sitting holding an umbrella over his head under a sweeping evergreen tree branch
A woman sits with a little boy and girl standing with crayons among the green vegetation on the bank of the river Wandle
A family stand with their two children painting at the back of a marquee. In the foreground a young girl draws.

Judges and winners

We had 20 entries across 3 categories: 3-10, 11-16 and adult. All the entries were fantastic. Our judges had a very hard time choosing just one winner and one highly commended artwork in each category. Criteria included composition, style and whether the artwork captured the spirit of the park.

Our judges were Rhys, a fine artist from Brighton whose paintings explore themes of folk horror and mythology, landscapes of memory and fantasy. And Linda, the Chair of Bishopsford House Residents Committee who’s lived in Poulter Park for 15 years and is very well placed to judge on ‘spirit of the park’.

3- 10 year old category

The winner of the 3-10 category was Grahati Madichetty with her lovely drawing of the ducks on the Wandle.

Varvara Uvarova was highly commended for her painting of the riverbank, which the judges agreed was evocative of the bold colour blocks of artist Alex Katz.

All our other entrants’ artworks were also stunning.

Painting of a tree dominating the park. Foliage is red and orange with an orange wash background fading to blue at the top of the picture.
Blue painting with flashes of green and brown showing shrubs on the opposite bank. The middle and left hand side shrubs have berries on them.
Blue outlined pylon dominates the scene with people and trees picked out in other colours.
Green felt tip outlines the playground and a grassy area to the right. On the left blue outlines the stylised spiky pylon and buildings.
Monet style colours laid down with greens and blues running across the bottom, pinks and lilacs to show sky and a smear of brown at the right.

11 – 16 year old category

The winner of the 11 – 16 year old category was Elizabeth Karetnikova with her exquisite canvas showing the buddleia on the banks of the Wandle. Our judges loved the nod to Monet’s waterlilies.

Our runner up was Matilde Mara, whose delicate pencil drawing of a bee on blossoms focused on the micro landscapes experienced by our mini beasts.

Our other teenager artists also produced some lovely, lively work.

Pencil drawing of a single white bindweed flower among leaves of different greens. A green beetle sits on the flower.

Adult category (17+)

The winner in our adult category was Doreen Brown, whose painting of a bend in the river Wandle captured the spirit of the park perfectly for our judges. They loved how the framing trees draw the viewer round the bend and deeper into the park.

Doreen’s watercolour painting of the Wandle slipping round the bend.

Highly commended in this category went to Man Yee Wendy Wo, whose modern twist on a traditional landscape style wowed the judges. They loved how it captured Poulter Park’s playful spirit, spaciousness and the omnipresent pylons in the background!

Man Yee Wendy Wo’s artwork of the park and its people.

We had so many fabulous artists in this category, some of whom joined us from the Carshalton and Wallington Art Group. We loved meeting you all!

A watercolur study of trees on a dappled brown foreground with peeps of blue sky. A network of branches create a frame at the centre of the painting
Muted watercolour showing the elevation of a 3 story brick mansion style house from the back. A wing projects to the left with a chequered chimney side on, rotunda windows and two gable windows in the eves. A cedar of lebanon stands to the left
Watercolour painting of a family of brown mallard hens stand and sit along a tree branch over the Wandle.
Oil pastel of path leading up into left hand side of the painting alongside a river on the right. Framed by a brown textured tree in the foreground on the right and lovely green vibrant bushes and foliage on the left
Green and yellow grass in the foreground with trees to the left and the right framing the back of the cottage to the right and a vista towards the skyline.
A pencilled pylon rises into a blue sky behind bushes and trees of various greens. The foreground is grass with a fence between it and the bushes.

Behind the scenes in 2023

Lots goes on behind the scenes to bring you this competition. It’s a real labour of love supported by friends groups all around the borough. We couldn’t have done this alone, we really do work as a team with community lead Dawn from Sutton Council.

Thank you to everyone who came to paint, to our judges Rhys and Linda and to everyone who helped us on the day (special shout to Ted, Sandra, Stuart, Ed and our Local Councillors Bobby and Gemma!).

We had a lovely time organising the event and really appreciate everyone sticking with us when the weather didn’t play ball. Next year we will have cream teas and socialising after the judging, we promise!

We were funded by Arts Network Sutton as part of the The Sutton Landscape Artist of the Year Competition. There’s two competitions left, then we’ll have an exhibition at Sutton Civic Centre, where we hope to see everyone who entered! Find out more about the competitions and exhibition on Sutton Council’s website.

Meantime, see you soon in the park for more events and this year’s competition!

Bunting and an arrow that says 'this way'point hanging on bushes to the right
A man with a beard sits on a stick stool playing his guitar. There are bushes and grass in the background. In the foreground are paints and brushes and a girl painting.
A group of 13 women and children smile to camera, standing by the walls in a hallway with stairs at the end. The children sit on the stairs with a grown up.
Judges Rhys and Linda look at 9 paintings and drawings laid out on a table. Rhys bends over he is wearing a blue jacked with orange piping on the sleeves. Linda is sitting down in her wheelchair you can see the top of her head and her black and green dress.
A glass jar sits on the grass with 7 different paintbrushes in it
Hayley and Isabel sit on the floor on a red carpet among posters and pens. Isabel is drawing arrows on cardboard and Hayley is looking at her phone smiling.
Hayley and Isabel stand under a marquee. Isabel is showing Hayley her nice black and white jumper
Hayley and Babs stand behind a table with a poster advertising the art competition in front of it. Hayley has her hands on Babs shoulders. They both grin.

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