Art students selected to enter national competition

Art work by four Colfeians has been selected to be considered for a national exhibition.

Greenwich District Fine Art Society (GDFAS) have selected the Colfe’s pictures to be considered for an exhibition in central London next year.

Ann Oduwaije, Robert Ware and Sam Burton (Year 13) and Carmen Lau (who gained an A* in Art last year and is now studying at a college of Art based in Camberwell) are hoping to be among the final 20 artists, from over 300 selected across the country, whose pictures will hang in the Mall Galleries in March 2012.

In the next few weeks, the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts (NADFAS) will send hundreds of all their selected works to the president of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) who, together with 2 other artists, will consider all the submissions and eventually select 20 pieces of artwork.

Those chosen, will hang in the Mall Galleries and the students will be given the title of RBA Scholar. There will then be one winner selected overall.

The young artists work will hang alongside professional artists. The decision will be made after Christmas.

Sam Burton says "I was surprised to be chosen but it would be fantastic to get further into the competition and maybe win. It would be a great thing to look forward to"

Ann Oduwaije agreed "My picture was inspired by a photography exhibition I attended and it made me realise that I could use photography to show people in a different way and a different light. To have my work at the exhibition would be fantastic."

For Robert Ware this is particularly exciting because when the picture was selected it had been the first oil painting he had done. "Much like Ann I was motivated by an exhibition only this was a portrait exhibit. I was inspired to start using colour in a way that you don’t normally see in real life on a person; using colour as tone. This competition is a great opportunity for all of us to potentially show our work."

Young Art Representative, Wendy Thomson said "We feel it’s very important to encourage young art in this day and age."