Fantastic news!

ROI catalogue 1997 

I have had the most wonderful news to end the year with. Last week the Royal Institute of Oil painters elected me an Associate member! It is hard for me to describe to you how much this means to me but if I tell you that membership of this prestigious society has been my biggest and longest held ambition (for the last 20 years) you may begin to get the idea!

The society hold an annual open exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London with a part of the show consisting of non member work which has made it through the competitive and rigorous selection procedure. In order to be even considered for membership you have to consistently have work accepted and hung in the annual exhibition year after year - which is tough enough!

I first had work accepted with the ROI in 1997, when I won a Young Artists Award.  My prize was £500 worth of Winsor & Newton materials, and a tour of the W & N manufacturing plant. It was my first major prize, and the year after I was awarded another Young Artists Award at the annual exhibition - so I had an early taste of success! 

Since then I have developed a hard work ethic, and buckets full of persistence. There have been years when I missed the annual deadline - when moving house or having my hands full with a new baby for example, but I never stopped thinking of the ROI and entered whenever I could. 

At the end of 2010 we were busy packing up ready to move to France and in 2011 living on the island of Bréhat so I missed the ROI exhibition during those two years. When I returned to the UK after the year away I had gained a much clearer perspective on what I wanted to achieve with my work and also what I had missed while being away from the UK. I determined to never miss the annual ROI exhibition deadline again, no matter what. I developed strategies for keeping good work back throughout the year so that I would be ready for submission and prioritising the important dates for the exhibition in my diary. 

The planning ahead paid off and I was extremely fortunate to have work accepted in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 and now have been rewarded for my perseverance and am very happy. I am looking forward to getting involved in the activities of the society and hope to prove myself worthy of being elected a full member in the not too distant future. For now I can proudly use the initials AROI after my name!

With Adebanji in September at A Brush with the Broads

It was a special double celebration as my friend Adebanji was promoted from Associate to full member of the ROI. Many congratulations Adebanji Alade ROI!

Read more about the Royal Institute of Oil painters here :-)