Imagine our surprise to see EBS Alumni, Jenna Waldren, as she graced our TV screens during the latest season of the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2024!
Jenna won Heat 5 of the competition which aired in October with her portrait of Historian and TV Presenter, Lucy Worsley. As if that wasn’t enough, Lucy selected Jenna’s portrait to take home on the day! Jenna was interviewed by Cass Art following her win, and we have included a small snippet from the article below:
Hi Jenna, congratulations on winning Heat 5! How did you find the experience of painting a celebrity live in front of the cameras and judges?
Thank you so much! It was definitely a surreal but incredible experience. I felt surprisingly calm on the day, which was a shock to both me and everyone around who kept commenting on how weirdly relaxed I was! Reflecting on the experience I think a few things helped me to work under the pressure, the first being I had done a few timed practice portraits beforehand. The second being, at the start of the year I had drawn a lot on the streets of London and had gotten used to people watching me to work, asking what I was doing and why. So on the day it didn’t really phase me to have people watch me paint or have the judges ask me questions. Last and most importantly, I think how lovely everyone was, including the other artists, the judges, Stephen, my sitter Lucy and the crew made me feel at ease and confident to paint away.
Excitingly, Jenna is actually holding an exhibition in February 2025 which will be at The Original Gallery, Hornsey Library, Crouch End between Monday 10th and Saturday 15th February 2025 – see you there!
