Fife artist wins prestigious award with rusty can painting

A Wormit artist has received a prestigious award in the United States for painting a realist masterpiece featuring a rusty tin of paint.
Angus McEwan won a prestigious art award.Angus McEwan won a prestigious art award.
Angus McEwan won a prestigious art award.

Angus McEwan fought off international competition to win a coveted Top Ten award in the San Diego Watercolor Society’s 40th International Exhibition, mounted online this month.

Angus’ painting, ‘Paint Splash’, inspired by a rusting paint tin he spotted in a doorway in Shanghai, was one of 100 paintings selected for the show from over 800 entries from 21 countries. Judges later named the work as the winner of the 25th Anniversary of San Diego Street Group Artists Award, describing it as “a technical and compositional tour de force”.

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Angus, who teaches painting at Dundee and Angus College, has won prizes for his work all over the world.

He said of the San Diego prize: “It’s a huge compliment. It’s a vindication that the work I’m creating is comparable to other artists, not just in the UK but worldwide.

“I am much more aware of what is going on in other countries than I used to be, and I think it helps motivate me to be a more accomplished painter.

“I don’t think of myself as a traditional watercolour painter. Some people don’t even believe me when I say the paintings are watercolours, but I find changing people’s perceptions about watercolour quite enjoyable.”

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Angus got the idea for the winning painting on a visit to China last September where he was inducted into the membership of the International Masters of Watercolour Association, a roll of honour including some of the best watercolour painters in the world.

He said: “I’ve always enjoyed exploring textures and colours. I have grown fond of old doors, windows, walls and buildings. The more aged, decrepit or falling apart my subject matter is, the more important it is to capturing the fugitive nature of life.”

He discovered the rusting paint tin while exploring the area round his hotel in Shanghai. “I stumbled upon a selection of very interesting lockups/shops which provided a variety of visual treats,” he explained. “The colours and the dash of rust on the tin of paint caught my eye.”

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