An artist who hails from Scotland has won an award for a painting inspired by her mother. Lesley Birch, who was born in Glasgow, has received the prestigious Artist Magazine Award 2016 for her painting, ‘Remember Me' at the Patchings exhibition in Nottingham. She received £250 of art materials from Clairefontaine and the painting sold at the exhibition in Nottingham. "It was a real surprise to win a prize and an exhibition with The Artist Magazine next year," says Lesley. Only 70 entries were selected from hundreds of works submitted by professional artists from throughout the UK and overseas. Lesley's work is currently featured in the Summer Days exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery in Crieff. "Crieff is in the area where my parents met and married - they actually lived and married in Dunblane," says Lesley, who played keyboards with chart-topping ‘80s band, Hue and Cry. "And my aunt and uncle live 10 minutes away in Auchterarder." This year Lesley has enjoyed a solo exhibition in Durham and a residency in Wales. She is now preparing to journey to Folkestone, Kent to take part in the Creative Coverage Members Exhibition at the Sassoon Gallery at 2 Grace Hill from November 27 to December 30. There she exhibits her work alongside that by Wendy Yeo, an elected member of the Royal Watercolour Society of Wales, Jeffery Courtney, Julie Anne Wray, Chris Wood, Jabier Erostarbe, Nicola Axe and Sophie Howard. "I'm getting used to the treks now." "And I'm really looking forward to a visit to Folkestone and exhibiting with such an array of special artists in a lovely setting." www.lesleybirchart.com
