A talented young artist had to pinch herself after being told that her artwork had been voted as the best at this year’s South Holland Open Arts exhibition.
Kerstin Lankey (20), from Spalding, won the public vote trophy for her pastel-drawn picture “The Old Man”.
Kerstin, who runs her own pet portrait business, entered the exhibition to test her people drawing skills and spotted the subject of her work in a photographic magazine.
She said: “I specialise in drawing pets and animals but didn’t have much experience of people, so I thought I’d try something different.
“When I saw the photo in an old magazine I instantly thought it was very distinctive.
“I used white pastel on a black background and shaded it in using my fingers.
“I’ve never entered an exhibition before and it was exciting to see people looking at my work and talking about it.
“But I never thought I would win though. When it was announced I had to pinch myself and do a double take.
“I’m delighted because there was a lot of good work on display and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me.”
A total of 292 people voted during the exhibition which ran at the South Holland Centre in Spalding between March 5 and 12.
Open Arts, which has been running since 1999, aims to showcase the best work by professional and amateur artists who live and work in South Holland and the surrounding area.
Artists are invited to submit entries, with the final pieces chosen for display by an independent panel of judges.
This year’s exhibition attracted around 600 visitors and featured 77 pieces of artwork from over 220 entries including paintings, drawings, photos, mosaics and sculptures.
