A Bradford Grammar Junior School pupil has won a national art competition with her portrait of the Elizabethan playwright, Shakespeare.
Katy Hinchliffe, nine, of Skipton, won the Individual Entry Age 8 to 11 category in the Children’s Shakespeare Portrait Competition and was awarded a prize of a family weekend away to Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford. Her work will also be exhibited at the Lowry alongside other winners of the competition.
Said Katy: “I wanted to take part in the competition because I love art, it’s one of my favourite subjects. I used chalk pastels and I just let my imagination run. I wanted to do a funky portrait because I wanted it to stand out, so I gave him blue hair. I was really excited when I heard I’d won.”
Sally Morley, art teacher at the junior school, encouraged all pupils to create their own portraits at home for the exciting competition.
She said: “A lot of the children produced beautiful drawings and paintings and Katy used a different art medium which really made her portrait stand out. Each of the children came up with their own, distinct interpretations, which was great to see.”
Thousands of schoolchildren took part in the competition, run by the independent charity, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which was held as part of Shakespeare Week. More than 2,500 children from primary schools across the country entered the competition.
Judges of the competition included much-loved artists such as Korky Paul, illustrator of the popular Winnie the Witch series, award-winning author and illustrator, Marcia Williams, Ricky Martin, presenter of CBBC’s Art Ninja, and Tim Cooke, CEO of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Sally Gray, Shakespeare Week education officer, said “Our fabulous art and design theme for Shakespeare Week provided children with the opportunity to show off their arty skills. We were delighted that so many children were inspired to create their own wonderful portraits of Shakespeare. It was incredibly hard to choose the winners having received some cracking entries in a multitude of styles, from pop-art and multi-media collages, to traditional portraits and abstract images. It was amazing to see Shakespeare interpreted in so many different ways.”
“I wanted to take part in the competition because I love art, it’s one of my favourite subjects. I used chalk pastels and I just let my imagination run. I wanted to do a funky portrait because I wanted it to stand out, so I gave him blue hair. I was really excited when I heard I’d won.”
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