This month I’ve been fairly quiet admittedly, spending time enjoying the weather, catching up with friends and preparing work for my next show. This week I spent time in central London visiting a number of galleries for some inspiration. At the top of the list was the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Award show. This is a must for anyone who needs to see the brilliance that resides in some people. The work is excellent.

Selected from a record-breaking 2,748 entries by artists from 92 countries around the world, the BP Portrait Award 2015 represents the very best in contemporary portrait painting.From parents to poseurs, figurative nudes to famous faces and expressive sketches to piercing photo-realism, the variety and vitality in the exhibition continues to make it an unmissable highlight of the annual art calendar. Now in its thirty-sixth year at the National Portrait Gallery, and twenty-sixth year of sponsorship by BP, the first prize of £30,000 makes the Award the most prestigious international portrait painting competition of its kind and has launched the careers of many renowned artists.

The show runs from 18th June to the 20th September. For further info please visit http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/bp-portrait-award/exhibition.php