Judging this contest on behalf of the Grassic Gibbon Centre has been one of my most pleasant tasks ever as a director – and indeed the challenge in deciding on a winner is a tribute to the standard of the entries, with local artists joined by submissions from further afield – including across the Atlantic!
I was particularly impressed by the dramatic use of colour in the portraits as a whole, as well as by the sensitivity with which the individual pictures fitted the chosen quotations – which brought out what a vividly descriptive writer Gibbon is – especially of landscape.
Anyhow, while I loved the photographic entries, by Susan Robson, Janine Illian, Amy Anderson and Arlene Law (with that ‘lovely’ yellow whin blossom!), finally I’ve opted to select as overall winner:
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- Blair Cunningham of Inverbervie for his insider’s impression of Bervie Bay. The sweep of the setting and the perfect ‘cobalt blue’ of the sky has absolutely nailed the quotation. Great stuff, Blair!
I would also like to pick out:
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- Laura Greig, aged 10, as a junior winner, for her detailed Mearns landscape, complete with grazing sheep – and I could almost hear the ‘click and spit’ of the tractor in the distance!
Many congratulations to all our entrants for giving such sympathetic responses to the writing of our own very favourite author!
Stay safe everybody – and keep up the artistry!
– Dr Bill Malcolm, Literary Director, The Grassic Gibbon Centre