- Hello and welcome to the beautiful Treliske in Cornwall, as we continue our search to find Britain and Ireland's most outstanding artistic talent.

And we're taking on the British weather as we head outside.

- Eight of the country's best amateur and professional artists are about to tackle one of Treliske's most outstanding views in just four hours.

- But with three judges to impress, who will secure place in the semi-final?

This is Sky Arts "Landscape Artist of the Year".

- [Joan] This year we've teamed up with the National Trust to search the country for a new exciting landscape artist.

- [Frank] From a thousand entries, only the most talented have been invited to paint a selection of beautiful properties.

- I like trees very much, so I think I'm probably going to, you know, look at these trees and have fun with them.

- [Joan] All with one goal, to win a £10,000 commission to paint Flatford in Suffolk, made famous by Constable himself.

The winner's work will become part of its permanent collection.

This engages a whole different part of your brain, doesn't it?

- Absolutely.

The whole right side is on fire now.

- [Frank] Today, eight hopes have come to Treliske to showcase their talent.

- I know that the painting's finished when everything's covered.

- [Joan] And not just for the judges.

Ex-head gardner Barry Champion and his wife Lynn have dedicated their working lives to Treliske.

And as a thank you, they'll get to choose their favorite painting to keep.

- The oak there has got a branch cut off.

I cut that with my chainsaw.

- [Frank] But that's not all.

50 more artists from all over the British Isles are here to try their luck as a wild card.

- Oh, whoa.

- Using a variety of mediums...

This is cow manure?

- Yes.

Fresh cow manure from this morning.

- Where did you get the cow?

- [Frank] They'll have to win over judges Kate Brian, Tai-Shan Schierenberg and Kathleen Soriano.

- I think I'm going to eat my words.

- [Joan] To claim a place in the semifinal.

- [Frank] Are you sufferer with nerves?

- A little bit.

- Because you have an enormous bucket, and I wonder if that's in case you're overcome with nausea.

(gentle melodic music) Eight artists, a mix of amateur and professional, have traveled from all over the country to impress the judges.

The professional artists are Amrik Varkalis, Christopher Aggs, Emma Copley, Rosie Hewitt, Grant Wood, Peter Matthews and Elizabeth Cowley.

- I've not finished a piece of artwork in four hours ever before, so it'll be a race against time.

- [Joan] And today, there's only one amateur artist, Ivan Daly.

- I'm feeling kind of confident.

A little bit of nerves, but I think I can do pretty well today.

- The artists had to submit a digital copy of one of their best landscapes for the judges to evaluate.

So until now, they haven't seen the real thing.

And for me, it's time for an honest confession.

You know what I really love more than anything in the world?

- West Bromwich Albion.

- No, well...

It's when we walk down the wall and we look at the artists, at paintings that they submitted, and you talk about it.

I think it's brilliant.

Shall we do it?

- There's some pressure on us.

Okay, we'll try and entertain you.

- Really, I love it.

- [Tai-Shan] What I particularly like about this one is I was in Greece last year and there's iron in the rocks on the islands, and it looks interesting, like, it's started to leak out of the picture.

- I love those dripping clouds in the back.

- [Kathleen] Well, there's a real sense of the weather, I think.

- If it stays gray, they are gonna have a field day.

- Yeah.

- Can I ask one of my stupid questions?

This is definitely a landscape.

Is that defined because it's outdoors?

This is almost a still life to me.

It's all about the boat really.

- I'm not so sure that the definitions between still life and landscape actually matter that much.

I think in a way you're right.

It is about being outdoors.

I think trying to define them into different types isn't important.

- I mean, it's a very common subject, isn't it, a boat?

But in this case, I think what makes it really sing is that light that's sort of, as the water's receded, and it reflects on the shadow side of the boat.

It's very sort of atmospheric.

- This looks a bit like a paint by numbers.

- Ah.

This stylization is kind of interesting.

- I think this is someone that will come to the landscape today and surprise us.

- I think you're right.

I can see today's landscape in this style.

So I reckon it's gonna be great.

- We were being really maverick when we saw this one, we fell in love with the...

I think it was the intellectual approach, the sort of mind mapping of the landscape through text and that sense of the mountains in the background.

I know you're gonna think it's not a landscape, but we were completely seduced by it.

- Can I tell you, you guys are assuming I don't.

I love this.

Landscape for me is all about looking at weird maps and stuff and trying to work on that.

And this is like, it's got all that strangeness and all that hostility that I associate with being lost.

- He was in the sea when he did this.

So this would've been pinned to board as he worked on it.

- I think this is fantastic.

I dunno what they can do today with it, but I'd love this on my wall.

- [Joan] Today's artists have a choice of painting.

The view of Treliske House originally bought by Leonard Cunliffe, a former director of the Bank of England, or out towards the River Fal estuary.

- [Frank] Whichever vista they choose to capture, they've all brought essential bits of kit.

- This palette I've had since I studied in Florence.

It's traveled.

It's like an old guitar case, I guess, for a guitar player.

- My tools are paint brushes and I've had this pallet knife, I guess, for a long time.

And this pallet scraper.

They're special to me.

They're not very pretty, but they are.

- Well, I got a lucky charm.

I never travel without banjo, cause I don't feel at home unless I've got... And if I get too far from banjo, then life could go pear shaped.

- [Joan] Passionate banjo player and retired lecturer Christopher Aggs is from Ashington in West Sussex.

His submission painting is a view from his studio, which includes his neighbor's campervan and a subject he enjoys painting that Treliske has in abundance.

- I like trees very much, so, I think I'm probably going to, you know, look at these trees and have fun with them.

- Artists, we hope the weather's going to hold for you because your challenge is about to begin.

- You have four hours to complete your work.

So good luck.

And your time starts now.

(gentle music) Most of our artists are used to painting en plein air, or in other words, outside.

And for one, marrying mother nature with his canvas takes on a whole new meaning.

- This is cow manure?

- Yes.

Fresh cow from this morning.

- Where did you get the cow?

- I was tracking a cow walking down the field here.

- Actually, that's very liquid, isn't it?

What kind of color will they give you?

It's quite nice, isn't it?

- Well, I'm not sure, Joan.

- It's a lovely rich color, isn't it?

- Yeah.

- Peter Matthews is from Leicestershire.

For his submission, he fixed a piece of paper onto a floating board and stood in the Atlantic for nine hours, noting down the experience with expressive markings and words.

As a conceptual artist, he uses all his senses to create his pieces.

Oh, what's that dust?

Are you smoking?

- It's a resin from a tree in north Mexico.

Copal.

- Are we getting high here?

- No, no.

- Sorry about that.

So what does it do?

It's nice, isn't it?

- It's lovely, yeah.

It's a lovely way to connect with the land through the smell.

And what I'm hoping for today, Joan, is a visceral approach to exploring the landscape rather than just looking at it.

- [Frank] God, you've already got a photographic grid.

- [Elizabeth] Yes.

- You look like someone in your office.

- I tend to work in my bedroom a lot, so this is my setup usually for doing drawings.

Just trying to feel at home.

- Elizabeth Cowley is from Lostwithiel, Cornwell.

Her landscape is of Logan Rock near Treen, a place where she used to go camping with her family as a child.

Before undertaking a degree in illustration, she considered a career in mathematics.

I read that you actually think mathematics can be applied to art.

- Oh definitely.

The thing about this view is there's a human impact on this.

So mathematics has been used in this building.

So I will be using mathematics in this, but all around it is nature.

So it's gonna be a mixture of the both, I think.

- Are you a sufferer with nerves?

- A little bit.

- Because you have an enormous bucket here, which I wondered if that's in case you're overcome with nausea?

- No, the team gave me that for pencil sharpenings, so... - [Frank] That's for pencil sharpenings?

- [Elizabeth] That's pencil sharpenings.

- How big is your pencil?

(gentle music) - Usually I spend a lot more than four hours on a painting, you know, more in the realm of 20.

So, so this will be a challenge for sure.

- [Joan] Emma Copley lives in Cambridge.

Having studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, she went on to work at Boston Museum of Fine Art and Tate Britain.

Her landscape is of Petersburg Pass in upstate New York, and captures the moment a storm cloud rolled in from the Hudson Valley.

- You've already sort of set quite a sort of in your face composition you've got there.

You're right in amongst the trees.

- I'm very interested in the dark trees back in the distance in there, all the tangles of branches.

That's really a challenge to draw.

So that's fun.

- [Kathleen] So it's gotta be a challenge?

- [Emma] Oh yeah.

- It can't just be something that you think, oh, I can do that and I can make that look... - No, there has to be a bit of a challenge or I can't really do it.

- [Kathleen] So even today when you know it's a competition, you're not gonna take an easy route.

You're going to make it hard for yourself.

- No, but like I said, I think if I did take an easy route, it wouldn't look as good, I don't think.

If it didn't have a bit of complexity in there.

(upbeat music) - [Frank] This year there is a new element to the competition.

50 other artists have descended on Treliske to try their hand as a wild card.

If they impress enough, one could find themselves in the semi-final.

- This is the first time I've ever painted outside, so it'll be interesting.

- [Joan] And they're not leaving anything to chance.

- I've brought acrylics, oils, watercolors, pastels, everything, you know.

- By the time I loaded my car up, I looked at it and I thought, wow, I've just transported my whole studio into the car.

So here it is.

- [Joan] They're even prepared to protect themselves from the elements.

- Just a bit of wind precaution.

- Heavy showers this afternoon apparently.

- Yeah.

Thunder, maybe.

Lightning.

- Rain, sleet, snow, hail.

- So you never know, everybody's gonna be piling into our little tent.

- You two just met today.

- Bizarrely, yeah.

- But you've got kids at the same school.

- Yeah, yeah.

And this lady lives about five minutes up the road.

- Oh hello.

We could have saved you all a journey and just come to your place.

Well, good luck.

How lovely being over here, it's like being on "Loose Women".

(women laughing) Battling it out for a definite place in the semifinal, our eight artists are already one hour into their four hour challenge.

- It's a little bit chaotic still.

Bit of chaos is quite creative sometimes.

- I think there's always a period of being lost, and then you find yourself.

So feeling good.

- I'm a little bit behind schedule, but that'll be fine.

I just can't stress in the first hour, else I've got no chance by the end.

- [Joan] At Treliske in Cornwall, our eight artists are battling the British weather and each other for a place in the semi-final, and they're just over an hour into their challenge.

- Grant, I'm behind you.

Don't do anything too flamboyant.

- I'll try not to.

- I tell what, it's so uplifting to see a proper palette with a thumb coming through it and big chunks of paint.

Originally from Chattanooga, Grant Wood now lives with his wife in New Romney, Kent.

The abandoned and rotting fishing boats in his landscape were discovered after talking to local fishermen at Rye Harbor.

I was kind of fascinated that you used to be an artist's apprentice.

- I was, yes.

- What did they do?

- You basically, you just stretch canvases, sweep the floors.

- You literally swept the floors and stuff?

- Yes, yeah.

But also, you know, in turn of, you know, basically an education.

- Sounds so great, living art like that, doing all the dirty stuff.

And in the meantime, like the sorcerer's apprentice, gaining your own skills and your own art.

I don't normally get to get this close.

You know, not only does it look good, but it actually smells pretty good too.

- It does, doesn't it?

- I feel happy being here, so I'm going to hopefully create a very happy painting.

- [Joan] Amrik Varkalis lives in Huddersfield.

Born in the Punjab, she moved to the UK as a child and went on to study textiles at Art College in Manchester.

Her submission was painted after a long walk through a local village called Marsden.

- [Kate] Is color for you something which is part of your cultural heritage?

- I think the color comes from inside me.

You know, it's something that's quite intuitive.

I think it's sort of balancing the wealth of heritage and also the wealth of British landscape.

I don't want to certainly create a painting that doesn't resemble this.

I do want it to... - No, and there's certainly likeness there.

Well, it's fascinating watching you navigate all those different ideas and find your way through the landscape.

- [Frank] Of today's eight, only one is an amateur artist.

- [Joan] So are you painting much of your time?

- Mostly it's in my spare time.

I work a full-time job in a medical advice company in Shannon, County Clare.

- [Joan] Right.

- It's not as creative, but... - [Joan] This engages a whole different part of your brain, doesn't it?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely, yeah.

The whole right side is on fire now at the moment.

- Ivan Daly is from Newmarket on Fergus in County Clare.

He studied fine art and printmaking at Limerick School of Art and Design.

The rugged rocks in his painting are part of the Burren coastline near Doolin, a place he and his wife like to visit in their campervan.

Have you been practicing?

- I have.

I've been practicing outside, especially.

- [Joan] Is painting in the open air just different from painting in a studio?

- In a studio, if you're painting for photographs, for example, there isn't quite the same satisfaction of achieving the colors as such.

When you're painting from life, you can really get the color as close as you possibly can.

Plus you have, beyond a photograph, you have so much more around you than what you take as a photograph.

So yeah, it is freeing in that sense.

- Being just one mile from the English Channel, weather at Treliske changes rapidly and frequently.

This weather's wild.

- It's just crazy, Joan.

I mean, this morning we've had rain, the clouds have parted, we had a bit of sunshine, but it's part of the elemental feeling of this place.

It's a fantastic location.

- It's a wonderful location, isn't it?

But it's an enormous challenge for an artist, setting up an easily in a location like this.

- It's a lot of landscape, but of course the editing of the landscape as the light changes is difficult, but that's what makes painting plein air exciting.

- We do have these pods, but unfortunately the wind and the rain is blowing straight into mine.

I don't mind it, it's quite exhilarating in the one way.

- Rosie Hewitt is from Walberton in West Sussex.

A self-taught landscape painter, she likes to find the beauty in every scene.

Her oil painting captures the reflections of the reeds in the River Arun on a summers day.

I like it.

You know what I like about...

The first thing that I really feel, I can feel the wind in it.

(Rosie laughing) No but that's- - I can feel that too.

- But not everyone has got that.

- [Rosie] Oh.

- [Frank] Those trees are, they are wind affected.

It feels like the day feels.

- [Rosie] Good.

- [Frank] What are you listening to?

- [Rosie] Joni Mitchell.

- Yeah, that's why, you see.

It's got that slightly broken melancholy about it, this picture, I think.

- [Joan] With a possible place in the semi-final at stake, the wild cards are trying to impress the judges in spite of what the weather throws at them.

- The canvas blew off my easel.

The umbrella blew on top of it, and it's sort of ruined, but you know, it's good experience.

- Do you wanna come under my brolly?

- Very kind of you.

- We started off not being able to see anything and then it all became clear and now it's all gone away again.

But it's good fun.

- I'm so impressed by these artists.

This is not an easy day to paint.

And actually there's some brilliant, brilliant paintings.

There's one girl that started with this very dark background and has got all this pink running through it.

It's very sublime.

- It's normally lovely and sunny when I venture out to paint.

And I usually use watercolors, and oils are not happy in the rain.

- The sky looks quite blue compared to that.

- Yeah.

- Are you hoping it might get blue?

- No.

- Well, we all are.

These are the Cornish colors.

- [Frank] Are you Cornish?

- [Woman] I am.

- You don't think it's in your soul a bit because you live around here?

- A little bit, but I think wherever I go, I can paint this good, so I'm not really bothered.

- Okay.

I love your confidence.

- Thank you.

- You had to be confident in this didn't you?

You wouldn't see anyone in a pink waterproof smock that wasn't confident.

- Oh, whoa.

- [Frank] Seven of our heat artists are using oils or acrylic in their work, but Liz has discovered a new way of using an old school favorite.

- What is that?

Is that ink?

- Yeah, it's this Quink Ink and it's a black ink that separates into its blue and orange parts.

And I've found ways to bring out the blue more or bring out the orange more.

So I'm putting in the trees in the background, some fine line detail.

It's really black at the minute, but when I wash it over with water, the blues will come out in it and it'll look further in the background than it is at the minute.

- [Joan] Our artists are nearly halfway through their challenge.

- I don't really know if I'm on schedule or not, but I know that the painting's finished when everything's covered.

- Yeah, I'm feeling the pressure now a little bit.

Definitely.

- [Tai-Shan] Have you painted landscape plein air before?

- I have before, for fun, yeah.

But usually my finished stuff I do in the studio.

- Okay.

- I think I'm going to eat my words.

I've been looking at Emma, who I felt sort of painted rather like a paint by numbers.

- Yeah, which you said twice.

- Yeah, and it turns out she's nothing of the kind.

It's a far more sort of sophisticated approach.

It looks like it could be quite exciting.

- At Treliske House on the Cornish coast, our artists are into the third hour of painting, and the judges have been keenly observing progress.

Well, we're halfway through.

The weather hasn't improved very much.

At least it's not raining.

But I want you to give me a rundown on what you think so far.

Kate, let's start with Peter.

- Peter, well, he's certainly a very interesting character.

I think I'm waiting for him really to kind of come into his stride.

- I was a bit disappointed, you know, we really liked what he had entered with.

I think he's overwhelmed by the landscape.

- [Joan] Liz, very painstaking.

- [Tai-Shan] And very well organized.

I mean, she really has a plan of action.

- And what was so clever about her submission is that there was a little touch of warmth, a little sense of spirit of place.

And you know, I want...

I really hope that she'll be able to do that here.

- The sky I think is finished and I did think it caught today's weather very well.

Grant, what do you think so far?

- It's again, in a traditional manner, it's a very well constructed painting, but it's got a bit of more dynamism.

- [Kate] It's very expressionistic.

You know, he's using all these colors.

The composition is finding itself through the paint.

- I just want to see that little bit extra by the time we come to judge.

- [Joan] Well, we've got time.

- Emma.

She's one of the few artists I've watched, when she actually paints, she paints very, in a very considered way and the marks are slow.

Hers are the most interesting colors for me today.

- You are in a dilemma here, aren't you?

Because here is a landscape with so many elements.

Do you want an impressionistic version of them or even a conceptual version of them?

You're gonna have to decide.

- [Frank] Used to working with just black ink, Liz has chosen to use today's competition to try something new.

- I'm just about to put my green layer, my first green layer on.

I don't usually use color in my works.

We'll see how this goes.

It's always a bit nerve-wracking, cause once it dries, you can't really go back on it very easily.

- So windy.

It's loud.

It's kind of scary.

It's making me paint faster.

Definitely.

- At the end of this, am I gonna be able to look at this and I'm gonna see that it's what you see out there?

- No, I don't believe you will.

You may pick out fragments like I am, because what I see is quite disjointed.

- [Frank] And what about the writing?

- Well, the writing is a way for me to anchor myself in what I'm seeing.

- [Frank] So it's a kind of a journal as well as a... - Yeah, absolutely.

You know, I'm interested in the inner landscape as well as what's happening out there, you know.

And as we navigate out there, we navigate through our inner landscape.

- [Joan] Not only are today's artists spoiled by the abundance of exotic plants and trees within the garden itself, they also have the dramatic views across the Fal estuary to inspire them.

- Most gardens are created with internal vistas.

So you create a vista within the garden, but at Treliske we're a little bit different in that we have several external vistas taking in the landscape outside of the property.

- The water surrounding Treliske creates a fantastic environment for growing lots of subtropical and tender plants because the water insulates the garden.

People talk about climate, but that's quite deceptive really.

A garden like this is a series of micro climates.

- [Joan] And it's this particular climate and atmosphere that's been drawing artists to Treliske for over 200 years.

- The whole of this area is an extraordinary inspiration to artists.

You have this wonderful, moisture laden wind being brought in, and that gives a very diverse and diffusive quality to the light here.

So things spread and glow.

- [Joan] Offering a snapshot into Treliske's past is a 19th century romantic painting by Thomas Lyde Hornbrook.

- It's a reflection of how landscape was viewed at that time, almost as an Arcadian landscape.

Perhaps the hill isn't quite that steep.

Maybe the house isn't exactly in the right place.

Maybe the trees are not quite as wizened and twisted.

So there's a story being told.

- [Joan] The view from the river is recorded in a simple pencil sketch of 1826 by Naval officer George Trevelyan.

It has only recently come to light after being discovered in a secondhand bookshop.

- It struck me immediately that it looked like the sort of drawing that young naval lieutenants were taught to draw.

I think for observation purposes, there's much more attention to the trees, the shape of the riverbank, and the house is almost a sort of afterthought.

- [Joan] But with the house being such an iconic mark on the landscape, how will the work of today's artists compare with those of the past?

- If I wanted a painting to remind me of the property, if we could take the artists back to 1826 and have the view of the mansion with the portico, that's what it would be.

- And Barry and his wife Lynn, who have both dedicated their working lives to Treliske, will get their favorite of today's paintings to keep.

So how long have you two been associated with this fabulous place?

- 36 years.

- 36 years, yeah.

- So you were born here.

- Almost.

- Yeah.

- So you were the head gardener.

What was your role in all this, Lynn?

- Well, I was Barry's secretary, and I've also worked for the National Trust as well.

- So I can't imagine what it's like being the head gardener at a place this big.

- There was myself and three gardeners and we looked after 376 acres.

- [Frank] Really?

I thought you were gonna say you had a team of 200 or something like that.

- [Barry] No, three.

- [Frank] It's in your blood, isn't it?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- It is really.

It's lovely, yeah.

- So today you are going to choose a painting.

- Yeah, we've got a space for it.

Yeah.

- And I love the idea of you having some sort of representation put together by one of our marvelous artists.

I'm looking for a new secretary.

- All right, yep, I'm available.

- Please.

- I can start Monday.

- [Joan] A day of painting in the ever-changing weather is almost over for the wild cards.

Before they pick their winner, the judges take one last look.

- [Kate] I love the way you picked up the color in the bushes.

- I like the verticals and the framing of the trees here.

And then with the splash of color.

- [Kate] Are you pleased with the result?

- I feel okay about it.

That's probably as good as I can say.

- Yeah, good.

- You know, I walk round an art gallery, I see a painting and I think I wish oh, I wish you were allowed to touch them cause there's something very... - Tactile about it, yeah.

- So I'm quite envious of you just... - Well, now's the time if you wanna put your... - Well, the trouble is, if it turned out to be a winner, I'd feel I'd helped.

- It's been really interesting.

I've tried not to look at other people too much because I'm bit intimidated.

There's such like a high standard here.

- [Frank] The judges have to decide on one artist to put through to the pool of wildcards from across the heats, from which, one will make it to the semi-final.

- Hi, Robert.

You're busy tidying away.

I'm delighted to tell you that you've won today.

You're our wild card artist winner.

- Fantastic.

Thank you.

(crowd applause) - Even though our eight artists are up against each other, members of their families have joined together in support.

- Seeing all the different approaches to the work, I think that's what's so wonderful about putting artists together like this.

There's something really lovely about seeing the way other people see the world and how they then express things through their hands.

I think it's lovely.

- I'm so used to seeing him painting in the studio.

I was wondering how he would manage with all the people around, but he seems to be loving...

I'm way more nervous than he is, definitely.

- Exactly.

- I'm way more nervous.

- [Frank] There are just 30 minutes of the challenge remaining.

- Half an hour to go.

- Yeah, yeah.

- What are the priorities?

- I just wanna make more of these dark trees over here.

- Keep going.

These marks that you're making now are gonna make a big difference.

It goes to show that every moment counts.

- Yeah.

- Now this is very vigorous.

Are you pleased with it?

- I've had fun with it.

I think I'll have to push to finish it, but... - And don't overdo it.

- No, exactly, exactly.

Yes.

- I'd like to get some more depth in, so I need some more dark layers to come through and then I'm gonna work two different tones in with a hair dryer in between.

And hopefully that will make it work.

It is a bit up against it at the minute.

- [Frank] Here at Treliske in Cornwall, our artists are in the closing minutes of today's challenge.

- I don't have time to do any anymore layers.

And I wanna get some more tone in, so I'm just getting this done and then seeing how much time I've got left to see if I can finish it off to how I want it to do.

- Just wondering what to finish now at the moment.

Hopefully the judges will like it, so fingers crossed.

- I am feeling stressed out because I have to decide what to do.

And it's very difficult because there's a lot I could do.

- And I'm trying to complete well, not complete, but to add a bit of depth to the painting in terms of its relationship with time and place.

- Artists, your time is up.

- Please put down your equipment and stand back from your easels.

(applause) After 36 years of service to Treliske, former head gardener Barry Champion and his wife Lynn are first to see the finished works, and will choose one as a reward for their dedication.

- Lovely colors.

- Now you mention color.

- This is very vibrant, isn't it?

- It's really in your face.

Wonderful.

Really good.

Excellent.

Yeah, thank you.

- Entirely different in style.

- Oh my goodness.

That's caught the house beautifully.

- The oak there has got a branch cut off.

I cut that.

With my chainsaw.

It's gonna be difficult to select one out the eight, isn't it?

- [Joan] Which do you think would give you most pleasures reflecting the place you know?

This one?

- This one here.

- This is the one?

- Yeah.

- No, thank you.

It's lovely.

It's lovely.

They were all lovely, but that is just how it looks.

Just beautiful.

- [Frank] While the artists head off to get warm, the judges move to the calm of the solarium to look at the work produced today.

- I still don't know what I'm supposed to think of this.

And I just feel really frustrated because he was an artist that I just felt was so distinctive and unique.

- I enjoyed the performance side of it.

It's a performative art piece.

- He's open to the elements and I thought that was quite beautiful.

But what he's made out of it is not a sum of all those things.

- I found the day challenging, the time restraints.

Most of all, challenging to be yourself.

To be yourself.

- [Tai-Shan] I love this one.

- You and I love this one.

I was really impressed with the fact that she hadn't really used green before and she hadn't really painted trees before.

But out of all of the trees that we've had today, I find them incredibly believable.

And I love that scratchiness of the blue inky trees in the distance.

- It was an experience that I don't think I'll forget.

I didn't think that I realized how much stress I'd actually end up being under coming the last hour.

- I really enjoyed watching Grant paint this.

- [Tai-Shan] I think it's great.

- You know, this is what my afternoon was like in parts.

You know, I was like, what is this weather?

You know, I really felt completely kind of in with the elements and that's what he's made me feel here.

- I'm feeling good actually, cause about halfway through the painting, I didn't really... Wasn't really that confident in the way that it was going.

And I think that it turned out better than I expected.

- I thought as I looked out over these huge vistas, you know, and when I caught the little dark, dank places, I thought she caught the sort of sodden, rather mysterious undergrowth rather well.

- And it's very lickable, all those paints, and oily.

And so you move around it rather beautifully.

- I think out of everyone, she's bitten off just about the right amount that she can chew.

- I don't feel like I've had a chance to even look at the painting yet.

So I just finished it, but I was standing at a distance from it and I'm pretty happy with where I got in four hours.

- I've never had an experience quite where I've been changing my mind so much.

There's so many good little bits of painting here.

- The ones that appeal are the ones where the artists has understood how to edit it down.

- Yeah.

- Mm.

- [Joan] To help decide who goes through to the semifinal, the judges first reduce eight to three.

- The first of those artists is Liz Cowley.

(applause) - And the second artist is Grant Wood.

(applause) - And the third artist to be shortlisted is Emma Copley.

(applause) - Commiserations to all the artists who didn't quite make it, but it was a tremendous effort.

Well done.

(applause) - I think the whole experience of just being here is plenty for me today.

- Obviously slightly disappointed, but I do respect the decision and I think I'm quite happy with that.

- [Frank] Before they settle on who makes it through, the judges talk to Liz, Grant and Emma about their original submissions and today's work.

- Liz, the way you've painted these trees behind the house, these beautiful spindly blues is utterly inspired.

I just love it.

But actually, it's not really so much a painting about the trees as actually the house.

That's the main component of it.

Did you know quite early on that you wanted to include it and let it be such a presence?

- Yeah, definitely.

I mean, it's a beautiful house.

It's one of my favorite in Cornwall, I think.

Surprised that they pick me, to be honest, and yeah, and I'm really glad that the pieces that I made resonated with them and that they were interested in them.

- I'm curious as to why you chose this particular subject matter for your submission.

- It's one of my most favorite subjects to paint and I thought that it showed a nice variety of approaches to different textures.

- From your perspective, would you do more to this painting or are you satisfied with it?

- I would be satisfied with it in the state that it's in now because I think it has a pretty fresh sense of the day and the space.

I think it's a toss up, but I mean, I think between the three of us, it'll be fair ground.

- This one I find much more evolved.

They feel different.

- I mostly was trying to evoke a feeling, that was my goal for the four hours, was to get it at some kind of feeling.

That was pretty exciting for me, to realize in four hours I could do something that I'm quite happy with.

The other two artists' work is fantastic and I'm really chuffed to be part of the group of three.

- Esteemed judges, I am in a complete tizzy cause for the first time ever, I totally agree with your three choices.

- We'll change.

- We're gonna have to change.

Let's change them.

- But I must say, and now I feel obviously a certain empathy with you, I am finding picking the actual winner a bit more difficult.

- I keep on coming in and out with regards to which one I think is the winner.

- [Joan] Is judging a democracy?

Is it two to one or how does it work?

- We try to be unanimous.

- I think that's actually what's lovely, is you come to a painting through the eyes of someone else, who's, you know, who's seen a whole catalog of paintings you've never seen and they bring their experience and their perspective.

It's left me in a position though, where I am really struggling to know who my winner is.

- Talking to them also throws a whole different thing into where you suddenly go, God, you're very authoritative and know exactly what you're talking about, and that's thrown me off a bit as well.

- Do you feel you have your winner now?

- 80% sure.

- Yeah I'm 80% sure.

- I'm 80% sure, but I'm gonna just turn around in a minute and I'll probably change my mind again, but I think that's just cause we've had such a fantastic day.

There's just some really interesting paintings.

- Okay.

- Good luck.

Get on with it.

Liz, Grant, Emma, congratulations to each of you for reaching the short list and the work of each one of you has really impressed the judges, which means of course it's been very difficult for them to decide.

- But they have decided, and the judges felt that the artist they have chosen to go through to the semi-final has displayed an ability to capture the spirit of the place and has showed a capacity for innovation.

And that person is Emma Copley.

(applause) - Congratulations.

- Congratulations.

- To win is just amazing.

I'm shocked.

- [Joan] A tough decision and that's a lovely work.

- It would've been nice to have gone to the semi finals, but I don't know if my nerves would've made it.

I don't think I would've held up.

- It was hard fought, I tell you.

- I love Grant's boat.

I loved the grass in Emma's, her pieces she submitted.

So it could have been either one of them.

I didn't think it was me, but it could have been either one of them.

- You look so shocked.

- I genuinely am.

Thank you.

- Really good.

I'm just really, really pleased.

I got a real confidence boost today in my painting.

(gentle melodic music)