Last summer, on one of the hottest days of the year, I found myself painting in the middle of St James’s Park as a Wildcard artist for Landscape Artist of the Year on Sky Arts.

It all started at Easter last year and a cancelled mini-cruise to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday (thank you P&O!). That weekend, I received a DM on my Instagram account from Nic, an assistant director for LAOTY for Storyvault, the production company, asking if I’d be interested in applying for the show. After confirming that it wasn’t spam(!), I was delighted to have been asked and got busy with my pastels in the now holiday free week, making the deadline with a day to spare.

Fast forward a few weeks and I received an invite to take part as a Wildcard artist on one of the London heats – as an artist who loves to draw and paint trees, I naturally chose St James’s Park and was accepted. Slight panic ensued as it dawned on me that I’d need to be able to transport kit and all I needed on the tube to be in St James’s Park by 7am! I may have treated myself to a new field easel…

Surrounded by cameras, easels, an extraordinary group of artists and a lot of public and tourists milling around and chatting while I worked, it was both surreal and exhilarating. Ably assisted by my husband and a couple of friends along for the ride, I don’t think that there was a minute when I wasn’t talking whilst working. It was a great fun experience. My main objectives for the day were to produce an image that I was pleased with, have fun, meet some like-minded artists, meet the judges and of course Stephen Mangan! Well I ticked all of those boxes and although I may not have won, I went home a very tired and very happy artist.

The episode aired this month, and it’s been such a joy (and slightly nerve-wracking!) to see it on screen – I got my 15 seconds of fame! Grateful for the experience, for the challenge, and for the reminder that stepping outside your comfort zone is always worth it.

Although I am not going to part with the original, prints of my final piece are available to purchase here.