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Articles posted by Josephine Zentner

Jackson’s Art Prize 2026

Submissions to Jackson’s Art Prize 2026 are now open! The competition returns for the eleventh year to find the best in emerging art. Artists working in any two-dimensional technique are invited to enter, and stand the chance of winning a First Prize of £6,000 plus £2,000 in art materials. This year sees 31 awards, an exciting Guest Judging Panel, the opportunity to exhibit at two London exhibitions, and an Early Bird entry price of just £5. Read on for more details on this year’s competition, and bookmark this page for future reference. ENTER HERE Contents Awards and Prizes Dates and Deadlines Entry Fees Guest Judging Panel Exhibitions FAQs Resources Awards and Prizes There are 31 awards to be won, including First Prize, five Jackson’s Choice Awards, eight Material Awards and Runners Up, the Student and Amateur Awards, the People’s Choice Award, and six Judge’s Choice Awards selected by our Guest Judging Panel First Prize £6,000 £2,000 Jackson’s art materials A filmed interview in your studio An invitation to sit on the Guest Judging Panel for 2027 Exhibited at Bankside Gallery Guest Judge’s Choice Awards (x 6) £1,000 Jackson’s art materials Invited to exhibit at Bankside …

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Chloe Cox: Real Refined

Chloe Cox won the People’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work What’s Mine Is Yours. In this interview, she discusses the teamwork behind her reference photos, her experience on BBC’s ‘Extraordinary Portraits’, and the one tool she can’t live without: a broken chair leg. Above image: Chloe with her painting Windrush Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Chloe: I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember – if not professionally, at least at heart. As a child, I was always drawing and painting; it’s what came most naturally to me, vs. the more traditional subjects like maths and science. While studying art in my final school years, I was first introduced to oil paints, and haven’t looked back since. Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals? Chloe: Because I still work a full-time job, most of my studio time happens on weekends or during annual leave. When I am painting, I always have music, a podcast, or an audiobook playing in the background. It helps me relax and stay with …

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Magda Delgado: A Pile of Passions

Magda Delgado won the Visitors’ Choice Award in the exhibition of Jackson’s Art Prize 2025 finalists at Bankside Gallery with her work Untitled (“Beauty as Consolation” series). In this interview, she discusses how she ripens her ideas before committing to paint, detaching from the ‘big soup of information’, and giving an older project another chance. Above image: Magda with her cat Serge Gainsbourg at her studio in UK Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Magda: Mark-making is something that children enjoy; exploring with the help of brushes, crayons on the wall, sticks on sand, bare hands and paint on paper. Or focusing on textures, such as making sculptures/constructions on the beach, moulding clay, and combining objects, etc. Some of them enjoy it more than others, and some never lose that interest. That was my case. All the time spent with two and three-dimensional approaches was a pleasure, and I was always rewarded with such good reactions. In primary school, I would share an interest with a girl who would become a close friend. We would collaborate on some endeavors for almost a decade. At home, I had someone who was able to transform flat fabric …

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Daisy Fulton: New Ground

Daisy Fulton won the Student Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Can We Not Do It Right Now. In this interview, she discusses squeezing every hour out of her university studio time, finding a rhythm with sketchbooks at a Portugal residency, and the paint colour she couldn’t be without. Above image: Daisy Fulton in her Manchester-based studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Daisy: Since I was a child, I’ve always been encouraged to be creative and messy, especially by my mum and granny. The dining room transformed into a studio, a bakery, a workshop… full of paints, clay, felt, stickers, pom poms, etc, anything to make some art with! Art was always my favourite subject at school and the one I took the most seriously. It was in college, whilst studying art, that I realised it wasn’t just something I loved, it was something I knew I had to pursue. I had an incredible tutor who challenged me to dig deeper into how and why I make art, and the hands-on facilities there gave me room to experiment with all kinds of materials and techniques. After college, I moved to …

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Glenn Hernandez: Reflective Mark Making

Glenn Hernandez won a Jackson’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with his work Aberration. In this interview, he discusses feeling divided between two versions of his life, the importance of spontaneity in his work, and how the political climate in the US impacts his creativity. Above image: The artist in his studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Glenn: I’ve been drawing and painting since I was five years old. My parents always encouraged it. I also love music and singing, in particular I love choral music and opera. I started out as a vocal performance major in college but I couldn’t get beyond my music theory courses so I fell back on studio art as my major. My earliest interests in art were more centered on illustration, especially the work of Golden Age illustrator Arthur Rackham. It wasn’t until I took my first art course in high school that I was exposed to fine art and the work of painters like Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach. Nonetheless, my career as an artist has often been commercial. I’ve been an art director at game and animation studios, I’ve worked as an illustrator …

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Richard Goold: A New Nostalgia

Richard Goold won the Jackson’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with his work My Father and Mr Cheese Planting Standard Roses. In this interview, he discusses drawing with Tesco highlighters, adapting his way of working since becoming a dad, and the significance of hessian. Above image: Richard Goold in his studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Richard: I’ve always painted from a very young age, more so than drawing, even. My mother is a painter, so I grew up going to the National Gallery with her and messing around with paint while she painted. It’s something I’ve always done and wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I went to UCA Farnham to do my fine art degree and had some great tutors and visiting lecturers. This was a great environment and place to push my practice. Going it alone after uni can be daunting, but I’d met some great people who helped in the years following. Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals? Richard: My studio days look very different …

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Sally Muir: A Series From The Subconscious

Sally Muir won the Planographic Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Beyond Black 15. In this interview, she discusses her love-hate relationship with pastels, the ephemerality of tissue paper, and how monotype lets her explore new paths. Above image: Sally Muir in her studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Sally: I applied to art school when I was 17 and got rejected. I did various other jobs, mostly in publishing and bookshops, until I met my business partner, Joanna Osborne, and we became knitwear designers. That’s what I did for over 30 years, and then decided to try art school again and was accepted this time. So I did a year of foundation and then five years part-time at Bath School of Art and Design (where, coincidentally, I had originally applied). As I needed to make a living when I left, I started working to commission as a portrait artist, painting children mostly. Occasionally, I was asked to include a dog. Gradually, dogs took over, and I started to specialise in dogs, visiting my local dogs’ home and drawing the dogs there became the basis of a year-long project; drawing, …

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Sara Rossberg: A Luminous Obsession

Sara Rossberg won Joshua Donkor’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Emergence. In this interview, she discusses preserving the transparency of her layers, drawing as intensely as painting, and looking for detachment in her subjects. Above image: Sara Rossberg sitting in front of her painting Presence – Two in her studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Sara: I announced at the age of nine that I wanted to be an artist, much to the dismay of my father. After graduating from school in 1971, I entered art college, Staedelschule, Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt, Germany. During my second year, I was awarded a scholarship that included one year of studying abroad. So, after the end of my course at Staedelschule, this brought me to London in 1976. Initially, I enrolled at Camberwell College of Art and Crafts to study paper conservation with the intention of learning a skill that would provide me with an income while painting. Within weeks, I hated the course, gave up the whole idea and switched back to painting. As I was unable to move to a postgraduate college, I was given permission to …

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Practical Advice For Overcoming Creative Stagnation

Whether you’re a professional or amateur artist, all of us experience creative block at some point. In these moments, it can be helpful to remind yourself of the routines and techniques you can use to get yourself out of a rut, and ways to deepen your daily creative practice in order to keep the stagnation at bay. Reinforced by pearls of wisdom from previous Jackson’s Art Prize winners, we’ve outlined and collected some of the best advice to help you find your flow. Above image: Eleanor Johnson at the V&A Museum, London Seek Outside Inspiration Perhaps the first route to inspiration as an artist is to look outwards and ask, ‘What are other artists doing? What have they done in the past? How can they help me realise my own findings?’. While many artists share studio spaces, those who work alone may need to look a little further afield for creative dialogue when in a rut. As Abi Whitlock, winner of the People’s Choice Award, says “Working alone the majority of the time can lead to you becoming quite creatively stagnant and stuck in your own thoughts and patterns of working.” Head to a gallery to see …

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Eline Brontsema: The Fun in Finality

Eline Brontsema won the Relief Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Stadtbad Spandau Nord. In this interview, she discusses the physical demands of woodcutting, allowing for spontaneity within her process, and the beauty of working slowly. Above image: Eline in the studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Eline: I’ve been drawing my whole life, and from a young age, I wanted to go to art school. After high school, I enrolled in the preparatory program at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen. I was looking for an art program where I could learn technical skills. I was always drawing, but I also wanted to learn to paint well. Ultimately, I didn’t find what I was looking for. So I started studying Philosophy at the University of Groningen. That was fun, but after I finished, I still wanted to be an artist. After working for a while, I finally enrolled in the art academy, the Klassieke Academie in Groningen, the Netherlands, in 2014. Including the preparatory program, the study took six years. I graduated in 2020. This was what I’d always wanted! Josephine: What does a typical working day …

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