Congratulations to Betsy (Year 8) who won first prize for the North York Moors Art Award in the Young Person’s category on Friday evening.
The competition, which is in its second year, is a partnership between the North York Moors National Park Trust and the National Park Authority. “This year’s theme was “Past, Present and Future”, which marks the 70th anniversary of the moors’ official designation as national parkland,” said Michael Graham, Director of Recreation and Wellbeing of the National Park Authority.
The sale of her painting and the cash prize was a bonus. Betsy was unable to attend the award ceremony and her father kindly collected the award on her behalf at the Danby Lodge National Park Visitor Centre in the Esk Valley. “I was really lucky,” says Betsy, speaking about her creative process. “When I went to take pictures of the Hole of Horcum in the North York Moors, it was snowing, so we took pictures of it in the snow. The Past Present and Future aspect shows how snow is not the most common thing now, and it was good to enjoy it. I used the photo for inspiration. My picture is a multimedia of paint and oil pastels. I felt quite happy when the painting had sold.”
Betsy’s aunt had told her about the competition. Not including time for the paint to dry, it took her around an hour to complete the winning work.