Keith Blake & 'A Warm Place '
Our congratulations to eighteen year old Keith Blake, a native of Kilbreedy, Killenaule, Thurles, Co Tipperary, who has taken first place in this years Texaco Children’s Art Competition. Keith competed against some 30,000-plus entries in this year’s contest, having previously won merit awards in 2008 and 2010 and third prize in 2009.
His self-portrait, entitled ‘A Warm Place,’ was selected from a broad field that included a view of Arklow Harbour, a 13-year-old girl’s take on the abstract art of Rene Magritte and a colourful bouquet of flowers.
Keith, a student at the local Presentation Secondary School, hopes to study art after he sits his Leaving Cert in the coming weeks, received a prize of €2,000 for winning the competition.
The chairman of the judging panel Professor Declan McGonagle said: “In his composition Keith has demonstrated a clear ability to control the medium of oil paint while producing a portrait which remains fresh and spontaneous, with a sense of the person, even though the subject’s eyes are closed.”
His painting, in oil, will be flown out to go on display at an exhibition hosted by the International Federation for Arts and Culture in Tokyo’s Ueno Royal Museum later this year. “It’s pretty weird to think it’ll end up in Japan,” Keith stated.
Keith was just one of some 161 award winners, who ranged in age from four to nineteen years old and whose names were announced at an event in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin yesterday.
The Texaco Children’s Art Collection will be visiting the following venues over the coming weeks so click here for details.
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