Autumn Exhibition, John Willetts our prize winner

On Saturday 8th October, The Bear Steps, the traditional venue for our Autumn Exhibition, was the scene of a well attended gathering of members and invited guests. They had assembled to celebrate another very successful Autumn Exhibition and to witness the awarding of the R Harrison and H Walker Prize given annually in the judge’s opinion, for the painting that best reflects the Shropshire countryside. On this occasion, the award went to John Willetts for his watercolour entitled ‘Snow on the Wrekin’.

Image of winning painting SAS Autumn 2016 Walker Harrison Prize (John Willetts, Snow on the Wrekin)
‘Snow on the Wrekin’ by John Willetts

Our adjudicator, Jim Davies, with his considerable knowledge of the county and his artist’s eye, commented on the high quality of the paintings eligible for the award and offered a thoughtful critique of his final shortlist. He was thanked warmly for the trouble he had taken in making the award.

Collage of Autumn Exhibition 2016 Social, with John Willetts receiving his award from Jim Davies
A flavour of the event, and Jim presenting John with his award.

Our thanks go to John and his team for the hard work and attention to detail that makes this all possible and to Margaret Rowson for again organising the hospitality. Thanks too to Anne Linton for capturing the essence of the occasion in her excellent photographs.