Prizes for Arty Student and Tutor

Heather receiving her prize from Councillor Margaret Simon

Gareth with his winning entry in the background

Jean and Gareth at the award ceremony with Heather and her painting in the background

A talented Macclesfield College student and their equally gifted tutor were awarded top prizes in a recent art competition run by Macclesfield based Jobling Gowler Solicitors.

Two very different interpretations of the Silk theme saw Foundation Degree student Heather Silcock and tutor Gareth Cowlin both win first place in their categories and collect a £200 prize from the Mayor of Cheshire East, Councillor Margaret Simon.

Heather, who has just completed a Creative Arts for Employment Foundation Degree, was judged to be the Best Young Artist in any category for her oil painting of Macclesfield's historic Silk Museum which was painted to show the same rippling qualities as a piece of woven silk.

Gareth, who teaches mainly Graphics, won first place in the 2D category for his depiction of an airborne silk moth ascending towards a group of distant moths, produced with the software programme Adobe Illustrator CS3. Speaking about his winning entry Gareth commented: 'I was aiming to produce a fragile and distressed quality to the image which captured the sensitive quality of silk, and hopefully that is what I have achieved'.

Jean Westbrook, another Creative Arts for Employment student and tutor Emily Mugridge also made it through to the finals and their work was displayed along with the winners in the large reception area at the Solicitors, which is used as a permanent display of paintings, ceramics, textiles and glass work by talented local artists.

Heather Jobling, Senior Partner from Jobling Gowler said: 'This has been the first year that we have run the competition and we have been extremely pleased with the quality and diversity of the entries. We are hoping to run this competition every two years'.

The artwork will be on display at Jobling Gowler's Park Lane premises in Macclesfield until the end of October and details of the competition can be seen at www.art.250parklane.co.uk

There's still time to enrol for Foundation Degrees starting this September at Macclesfield College. For more information see the adult learners' section of this website or call 01625 410002.

View all four entries

10/09/2009