Rosie Williams
Rosie Williams is the 2011 winner of the Dan Hemingway Creativity Prize for her portrait of Judy Little, her 90 year old grandma.
As she wrote in her submission that accompanied the entry:
"This is a portrait of my grandma, Judy Little, at 90 years of age. As she posed for the painting she had a firm expression, only giving away the slightest of an emotion in her upturned smile. It seems as though she was intent on giving off an aura of nobility or pride, through her withered features. Since finishing this piece, Judy has started using a hair piece due to rapidly losing her hair. Despite this, her sense of pride shone through in her expression and this is something I wanted to encapsulate in my representation of her. I did this painting the size it is so as to show the details of a 90-year-old woman, without concealing withered skin, wrinkles or her hearing aid. Judy was a successful dancer in her teenage years who worked with several famous actors and actresses of the 40's (born Olive Owen, stage name Judy Trevor), a young bride in the war years and has lead an, at times harrowing, but above all devoted life. I wanted to pay a tribute to, and celebrate the beauty of my grandma in this painting."
Rosie normally paints landscapes and so the portrait is a departure for her. She only studied Art to GCSE Level, and took A Levels in French, Latin and Spanish - whilst also learning Japanese and Italian in her own time. She's now studying linguistics at University College London.
Original painting and submission text copyright Rosie Williams 2011
As she wrote in her submission that accompanied the entry:
"This is a portrait of my grandma, Judy Little, at 90 years of age. As she posed for the painting she had a firm expression, only giving away the slightest of an emotion in her upturned smile. It seems as though she was intent on giving off an aura of nobility or pride, through her withered features. Since finishing this piece, Judy has started using a hair piece due to rapidly losing her hair. Despite this, her sense of pride shone through in her expression and this is something I wanted to encapsulate in my representation of her. I did this painting the size it is so as to show the details of a 90-year-old woman, without concealing withered skin, wrinkles or her hearing aid. Judy was a successful dancer in her teenage years who worked with several famous actors and actresses of the 40's (born Olive Owen, stage name Judy Trevor), a young bride in the war years and has lead an, at times harrowing, but above all devoted life. I wanted to pay a tribute to, and celebrate the beauty of my grandma in this painting."
Rosie normally paints landscapes and so the portrait is a departure for her. She only studied Art to GCSE Level, and took A Levels in French, Latin and Spanish - whilst also learning Japanese and Italian in her own time. She's now studying linguistics at University College London.
Original painting and submission text copyright Rosie Williams 2011
