News
Portrait Club 2026
Portrait Club is back for 2026, running once a month. This years dates are: 26th Jan, 2nd March, 13th April, 11th May, 1st June. For more info send me an email, I look forward to seeing you there!
Artizan Winter Open
Exhibition runs the 9th Nov – 24th Dec 25.
South West Academy Open exhibition 2025
I have been selected to exhibit my Work once again with the South West academy, this is the 4th year I am exhibiting in their open exhibition, and it is always such an honour. I have two of my pieces chosen this year: Portrait of Man (A study of paint and texture) and Self-Portrait (April 2025).
Portrait Club 2025
Portrait Club is back for 2025 and I am so excited to welcome everyone once again. The classes are going to run a bit differently this year, running the first Monday of every month. These classes are for all abilities, and for any medium. We always have a live model sitting for us, and there will be some new faces modeling for us this year. I look forward to welcoming you.
2024 – Something a bit different
During 2024, I was a bit quiet on the portrait front. I decided to take a short break from Portraits and take some time out to decide which direction to next take my work. But i did not stop making art. Oh no!! I decided to use this time to explore landscapes, something that I had always wanted to give a go. Ireally enjoyed experimenting with different techniques and colour palettes. I used my local are to inspire me, and found that I was most drawn to seascapes. I exhibited my landscapes at the Artizan Gallery Torquay, Paradiso Gallery Bovey Tracey and Torre Abbey, Torbay. If you are interested in my landscapes, please visit my etsy page at Ameliawebsterart – Etsy UK or my instagram page at @avew_landscapes.
The Herbert Smith Freehills portrait Award!!
Previously known as the BP portrait award, I was over the moon to discover ‘Alice at the laundrette’ had been shortlisted for the 2024 award!! It is my dream to be a part of this exhibition. So on a wet day in February I took my painting up to London – sneaked in a visit to the National Portrait Gallery – and left it for judging. Unfortunately my painting didn’t make it into the exhibition and I was disappointed, but now I’ve come so close, I will be trying again. Fingers crossed for next year. Watch my journey here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4nlnt2oTDV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Artists and Illustrators magazine Feature
South West academy of Art Open 2023
I was absolutely delighted not only to be exhibiting with the South West academy for the third year in a row but to also win an award! My painting ‘Self portrait in Rags’ won an award from White Water gallery.
It was an honour to be exhibiting alongside the academy at Kennaway house last November.
Devon Open Studios
Amelia is delighted to be to invite you to her studio this September as a part of Devon open Studios 2023.
Based in Chudleigh’s artistic hub, Pottery Court, Amelia focuses on portraits in a contemporary realist style. This year, Amelia will be showcasing the exhibition ‘figures’. A body of work exploring expressive figurative paintings.
Amelia’s studios will be open for you to view her work, meet the artist and attend portrait demonstrations:
· Thurs 14th September 10-1pm—Charcoal portrait Demonstration
· Thurs 21st September 10-3pm— Portrait Painting Demonstration
Opening times during September, 10am—5pm:
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
| 9 | 10 | |||||
| 11 | – | – | 14 | – | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | – | 20 | 21 | – | – | 24 |
New Work – “Self-Portrait on Rags”
Each painting is a steppingstone. You cannot create a new painting without having created all the ones that came before. This idea led me to create “Self-portrait on rags”.
All painters are familiar with the countless rags lying around their workspace that they have used to clean their paint brushes. Looking at mine one day reminded me of photographs of Lucian Freud, rags towering in corners of his studio. They also became a feature in many of his paintings alongside the models.
My painters’ rags hold stories of previous paintings. The colours mixed for specific pieces with paint marks left from the brushes as I clean them.
For “Self-portrait on rags” the canvas is made of these rags stitched together, stretched over a frame and prepped with clear gesso. The portrait, painted directly onto the rags in oils, shows the artist poised ready to start working on the next painting.
It is important to see all the colours and brush marks on the rags from the previous paintings in the background and on the rag I am holding. The painting remains unframed as I want the rags that stretch around the edges to be visible.
The British Art Prize – Finalist
I am a finalist in the British Art Prize! “Alice at the Laundrette” has been selected alongside 49 other artists as a finalist in the Bristish art Prize run by Artists and Illustrator Magazine. As one of the finalists I am also exhibiting my piece in London at gallery@oxo this November.
The South West Academy Open Exhibition 2022
My painting “Figure one” has been selected to exhibit in the Southwest Academy Open at Kennaway house, Sidmouth. I am thrilled as this is the second consecutive year I have been selected to exhibit with the Academy.
Exhibition and Demonstration
I will also be doing a demonstration at the gallery on the 15th September, for more info visit the Paradiso Gallery Website: Amelia Webster LIve (paradiso.org.uk)
Portrait Classes starting soon!
The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize – FINALIST
“Alice at the Laundrette ” has been chosen as part of the final of the nationwide Holly Bush emerging woman Painter prize.
At the Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize we champion women artists and try to play our part in correcting the imbalance in the art world.
Visual Arts | Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize (hollybushpaintingprize.com)
There are 22 finalists in total and in a normal non-covid year we would be exhibiting our work in London, however for the moment it is in an online exhibition that you can view here . However, next year, all the finalists will be exhibiting their work in the summer of 2022 at Lauderdale house, so watch this space!
The prize giving for the event is on Wednesday 7th July, held as an online event. If you would like to find out more about the Prize and see the other finalists view their website here
Emerging Artist Bursary Winner
I am very proud to say I have been awarded an Emerging Artist Bursary by Devon Open Studios ahead of the event in September 2021. I have also been awarded the Joanna Radford award by DOS in memory of the founder or DOS.
“The Emerging Artist Bursary aims to nurture and encourage new talent to take the next steps in their career by helping to fund their participation in this prestigious annual open studios event.”
Devon Open studios
I am very excited to be taking part in Devon open studios this year. After years of visiting the different artists over the years, I feel this is a great time to get involved. Open studios will be taking place in September, look out for updates on when my studio will be open.
Longlisted for Jacksons Painting Prize
I am delighted my painting “Alice at the Laundrette” was longlisted for Jacksons painting prize in March 2021. From 8674 Entries, 400 were longlisted one of which was mine. To view this years longlist visit: Jackson’s Painting Prize 2020 Winners (jacksonsart.com)
I’ve moved!
After five years of being at Seale Hayne, Newton Abbot, I made the big move and now work in a studio in Pottery Court, Chudleigh. The studio is in the centre of the town, off the main street and I am in good company with other artists and makers around me. Pop over and say hi!
Devon Life Magazine
Portraits for NHS Heroes – Exhibition and Book release
I am excited to announce that my portrait of my NHS hero is now featured in an online exhibition. This has been curated and put together by Paintings in Hospitals alongside Tom Croft. You can visit the exhibition Here.
But the good news doesn’t stop there! My portrait will also be featuring in a book of NHS portraits, published by Bloomsbury Publishing and will be released on 12th November 2020. The book features about 300 portraits made from the initiative and I am very proud to be one of the paintings selected. The book is available to pre-book and purchase from Amazon, Bloomsbury publishing and good bookstores, with all proceeds going to NHS charities.
Portraits for Local Keyworkers
Inspired by the artist Tom Croft and the initiative started for the heroes of the NHS, I wanted to also say thank you to key workers who have also helped keep us all going during the pandemic. I decided to put a call out in my local town in Devon for local key workers, offering a free pencil sketch to every individual. I have had all kinds of key workers get in touch for a portrait, these include shop assistants, ambulance drivers, care workers and police officers. Thank you to all the key workers locally and nationwide.
Portraits for NHS heroes
During the coronavirus pandemic, an initiative was started by fellow Portrait Artist of the Year competitor Tom Croft. This initiative was to give away free portraits to the heroes of the NHS who have been working incredibly hard to keep us all safe to say thank you. I immediately got in touch with Tom to take part and was soon set up with my hero.
I was paired with Bernadette. I wanted the portrait that I made for her to be her choice, so I left it completely open for her to decide what the picture looked like. Bernadette asked if it could be a portrait of her and her husband JP, as they are both working in the NHS during the Coronavirus pandemic. Bernadette explained that she would like the portrait to show them together as they would like to be able to give the painting to their children for the future, something positive to come out of the situation.
Bernadette and her husband JP work in hospitals in Manchester and Bolton and have been anaesthetists for 17 years. I wanted the portrait to reflect Bernadette’s positive manner so painted in a looser style and a brighter colour palette. It was an absolute honour to paint Bernadette and JP, and what I was really struck by was her positivity in this whole situation.
To see more works completed by artists for NHS heroes, search #portraitsfornhsheroes on Instagram
Biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2019
I am delighted to share the news that my painting “Self-Portrait (September 2019)” has been selected to be exhibited in the Biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2019 at the Piano Nobile Gallery Kings Place in London.
“The Ruth Borchard Collection is the UK’s only public collection of self-portraits by British and Irish artists.
Consisting of three collections and a biennial self-portrait prize, the Ruth Borchard Collection represents the very best of twentieth-century and contemporary self-portraiture.”
The exhibition opens Friday 24th May and runs until September 2019. The exhibition showcases work from established and emerging artists and I am very excited to have been selected to show my work alongside such great artists. To view the catalogue of works or to find out more about the prize and exhibition opening times please visit the Ruth Borchard website here
Portrait Artist of the year – My experience – March 2019
During the process of taking part in the competition, I kept a journal to reflect on the process, which you can read here
Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the year- March ’19
Last year, I entered the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition and, to my surprise, I got through! The filming took place last year. My episode will finally air on TV on Tuesday 12th March at 8 pm on the Sky Arts channel. Needless to say, I am extremely nervous to see how it will all be put together. It was a great day, I met great artists, it was full speed all day with very little time to stop and reflect, but so enjoyable. After the show airs, I will be sharing a little more about the day and my experience! Don’t forget you can catch up on all the other episodes – definitely worth a watch.
P.S Sneak peek of my painting in the promo above!
Painting Tony Hawks
Last November I had the pleasure of meeting the author and comedian Tony Hawks MBE and beginning a new portraiture project. I got in touch with Tony asking if he would be interested in sitting for me, to which he replied yes!
Our sittings ran from November 2018 until January 2019, meeting approximately seven times. During these sittings, I made studies of Tony and got to know him, in the hope of painting a portrait that was more than paint deep. Tony is such an interesting person to talk to and has so many great ideas and opinions. I found him very inspiring. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know him and an honour to have painted his portrait.
I made lots of sketches and tried to think about the different ways I could portray Tony, including the important decision of whether or not to include Coco, Tony’s lovely doggo. In the end, I decided on a composition that just showed Tony’s head and shoulders, focusing in on Tony’s character and exploring the landscape of his face.
Pre-selected for Royal Society of Portrait Painters
The Royal Society of Portrait painters holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. They put a call out every year to artists to submit their portraits and this year I decided to give it a go. When I heard the theme for this years exhibition was ‘Skin’ it could not come at a more meaningful moment. I was just about to undergo a Skin Biopsy and felt this was the perfect way to distract myself.
The painting shows my skin still covered with the iodine from the surgery and with a dressing on my chest covering the stitches. This particular day and the time surrounding that particular moment were filled with fear, vulnerability and uncertainty – the unknown. Painting this portrait allowed me to distance myself from the procedure and the results, painting acted as a distraction through a difficult time. I am happy to say the results came back benign and this process opened my eyes even more to the importance of art in my life.
I entered this portrait into the competition online and was pleased to hear my portrait had been pre-selected. This meant I was through to the next round of judging. For the next round, I had to take my portrait to the Mall Galleries to be judged in person. Unfortunately, I did not get through to the exhibition. Although disappointed at first, I was (and still am) proud I made it that far as I know I was up against amazing painters. Time to push forward. It’ll soon be time to start thinking about what to enter for next year!
