Slamannan artist wins honourable mention at prestigious art competition

Hosted by Teravarna, the global competition drew artists from 42 countries to compete.

Grant’s piece, featuring rich texture and deep atmosphere, captures an elephant’s eye and expands it over a large box canvas.

He said: "Receiving this Honorable Mention from Teravarna is a profound milestone.

“My goal is always to forge a connection between the viewer and the raw beauty of nature. To have that vision recognised by an international jury is incredibly validating.”

Due to the lack of wild elephants in Scotland, Grant decided to use a photograph as a reference while crafting the honoured piece.

He said: “I’ve never done a painting like that before, so I thought it would be a good challenge. I used very thick oil paint that you mix with wax and gel to make it sort of like icing sugar. So I’ve created the skin with the folds [with that paint] and the eye is a completely blank canvas that has been glazed so it gives it that wet look.

“I like painting on big canvases, so I did that on a big 91 by 60 centimetre box canvas. It’s quite heavy because of the thick paint, it weighs about 2.5 kilos.”

Through his landscape and wildlife work, Grant is carving a name for himself in the artistic community.

He said: “It’s trying to get your name out there, that’s the difficult part. Trying to get your paintings, your ideas, to the right people who like that type of stuff. It’s quite a challenge, but a challenge that I’m keen to hit head-on.”

He began painting in 2020 before taking a break in 2023 and has now returned with a goal to become an artist full time.

Grant said: “I’ve just started painting again in March, so [the Honourable Mention is] definitely a confidence booster.

“I decided to turn it into a business - I’m still working nights, but the plan is to go full time.

“I’ll come home and sleep for two or three hours and then I’ll get up and paint and do some admin on my websites.”

Grant has two websites, one where he sells his paintings and limited edition prints which come with a certificate of authenticity, and an Etsy site for prints of his photography and paintings.

Although he has no sales as of yet, Grant is optimistic and notes his website traffic is above average. He recognises that purchasing art takes time, customers must find the perfect place to display the work and therefore impulse buys are rarely seen.

He said: “You need to find a way that you can reach everybody. It’s not just about focusing on galleries but approaching everybody, giving everybody a chance to have access to your art.

“I think people get so lost in their lives today with corporate nine to fives and I just think art is a good way to ground yourself.”