Entering Sky Landscape Artist of the Year (LAOTY)

This year, I’ve taken a step slightly outside my comfort zone and entered Sky Landscape Artist of the Year.

It’s something I’ve considered for a while. Like many artists, there’s always a hesitation — timing never feels quite right, and there’s always more work to do, more ideas to develop, more reasons to wait. But at some point, you realise that waiting doesn’t really move things forward. So this year, I decided to go for it.

For those unfamiliar, Sky Landscape Artist of the Year (LAOTY)is a national competition that brings together artists of all backgrounds to capture a landscape within a limited time. It’s as much about decision-making and instinct as it is about technical ability — something that makes it both exciting and, if I’m honest, slightly daunting.

My own work has often been developed in a more controlled studio setting, where I can take time to build layers, adjust composition, and refine the balance between realism and abstraction. Entering a competition like this shifts that entirely. It demands a more immediate response — trusting your eye, simplifying where needed, and committing to marks without overthinking.

That challenge is exactly what drew me to it.

Landscape has always been an important part of my work, shaped by places I’ve spent time in and returned to over the years. The opportunity to interpret a scene in real time, alongside other artists, feels like a natural extension of that — just with a bit more pressure attached.

Whether anything comes of the submission or not, the process itself has already been valuable. It’s pushed me to think differently about how I approach a landscape, how I prioritise what matters in a composition, and how I work under constraint.

I’ll share any updates as things progress. For now, it feels good simply to have taken part.