The winner of Arts for Health's Annual Art Competition and Exhibition 2022, Oliver Stewart, shares his process behind creating work for an exhibition and tips towards creating the winning piece, 

Submit your art for this years art competition and exhibition, Connections. Entries close 30th June. Enter here



Tips about creating a winning piece:
Don't approach a painting as if it's a competition.
Art is about communication, sharing ideas in a way that our words can't accomplish. Your art should be about striving to get your feelings out and connecting with another human being.
It's through working for years at a time, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes that allows you to become a better artist. Make sure to persevere and keep making art every day! 
I'm lucky enough to have been surrounded by enough talented and hard-working individuals who all make amazing, diverse work to keep inspired over many, many years. This is absolutely crucial to keep the fire of inspiration burning bright. So be sure to attend shows, meet other creative practitioners and be willing to talk about what you're passionate about!

The process behind creating work for a show: 
When I'm making art I'm not really thinking about making a shows worth of material. Instead, I'm absorbed by the piece I'm working on- trying to find new approaches, angles, and ideas to include.
When it comes to making work for a specific show, I find the deadlines really stimulating and allows me to really delve into a piece. I think its probably the fear of the time running out that gets me over the finish line. 
I also rely on making dozens of works at any given time and being able to rely on a collection of works in case an opportunity to show my work presents itself.