Nation’s greatest portrait artist reveals his new dream — to paint Andy Murray
HE HAS already had a brush with fame after winning a prestigious TV painting contest and discovering he is a relation of TV star Graham Norton along the way.
Now Glasgow-based Gareth Reid, who has just been named Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, is hoping his win could help open the door to painting his dream subject – tennis star Andy Murray.
The artist, who was born in Belfast, said he hoped the competition win would help him win some high-profile portrait commissions and revealed he had been trying to find a way to reach Murray to ask if he would sit for a portrait for quite some time.
He said: “I am a tennis lover and over the year I have seen him quite a few times at Wimbledon and the Davis Cup.
“I have always though he would be a good subject – he is probably Scotland’s most iconic sportsman – but it is not easy to get to people like him. Fingers crossed, I would love to do it.”
Reid, who is a teacher at Strathclyde University, won the prize of a £10,000 commission to paint Irish comedian and broadcaster Norton, which is now on display in Dublin’s National Gallery of Ireland. It later emerged that Norton’s great-grandfather, James Reynolds, and Reid’s great-grandmother Christina Reynolds, were siblings from a family of more than 10 from Ballymena.
Reid’s success in the competition is all the more impressive as he only entered at the last minute – and it was also his second time of trying, after failing to get through the heats a few years ago. He said: “I thought I would give it another go, I just entered last minute.
“We were going away on holiday the day of the deadline and you have to submit a self-portrait, so I started working at 9pm or something the night before and just blasted it.
“I think it was submitted at midnight – it was good the portrait worked out as I couldn’t have had a second go at it.”
Reid’s work is currently on display until next Sunday at The Art Space, at Cass Art Glasgow, in a solo exhibition which showcases his preparatory sketches for the competition, including those of Norton. He said he is now starting work on an exhibition to be held in Dublin in June and would “wait and see” what comes out of winning the Sky Arts competition. I will have to see what happens, but I hope for a few-more high-profile portrait commissions – we will see. The main thing is the exposure you get – you never know what will come, but you can’t control this part of it.”
The former Glasgow School of Art student also praised the city where he lives for having a “great arts community”. He said: “It is big enough and international enough that people are always doing interesting things, but it is small enough so you know a lot of people. “Studio space is also much more affordable here – it is great place to be an artist.”