Well it was certainly exciting to be in a TV programme! My only previous experience of TV production came from TV adverts I made in a former career. For anyone not involved in production it is always amazing how many people it takes to create a programme – even in a relatively simple format like Landscape Artist of the Year! Also, the amount of equipment is surprising – not just the tents, hospitality, and the main entrants painting pods.
Chatting with the production team was great fun – they did seem to particularly enjoy the Wild Cards as I think it gave them so much variety to choose from. Plus, it was amusing to hear about how excited Stephen Mangan got at the football results in the bar the previous evening!
It was also a bit surreal for me – on the Monday of the week of filming I was told I had a serious illness so much of my day at #LAOTY was spent in a daze. In the end I did not produce my best work, but it was a great distraction from my own woes!
My take aways were how many really good amateur artists there are around, many with very original takes on art and all looking to enjoy creating pictures. So, if you are dabbling – keep going! It is very satisfying and relaxing – especially if you are not worried about winning anything!
Note the picture at the head of this article of the lake at Compton Verney was not done of the day – can’t show you that yet!