by Sylene Argent
Kingsville’s Denise Antaya will appear as one of the 18 artists, of amateur and professional status, who will compete for top prize during Makeful’s new competition series, “Landscape Artist of the Year.”
The series will premiere on Sunday, February 16, starting at 9pm.
Sook-Yin Lee will join the artist as the series’ host. Landscape Artist of the Year is the Canadian adaptation of the Sky Arts UK show.
In the series, the participating artists, from all over Canada, have just four hours to create a landscape masterpiece, while taking in the scenery at an inspiring natural backdrop. Six artists compete at each location. The eventual winning artist in the series will earn the “Landscape Artist of the Year Canada” title, and will also take home $10,000. The winner’s art will also be displayed at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
Antaya is excited to see the series hit the airwaves. She was involved in the filming back in September.
She first heard of the competition series from the Windsor & Essex County Plein Air Society. Two of her former school peers also informed her of the opportunity.
Antaya said she is a fulltime artist, and was excited about applying for the opportunity. Though she has always been an artist, she spent many years working in advertising. Around ten-years ago, her husband passed away. At this point, she decided to follow her passion, so she quit her job and attended art school, the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto.
Antaya explained she was thrilled when she learned she was accepted as one of the participants for the show.
She said pods were setup when she and fellow competitors went to their site on their day to shoot their segment with the series. They had four hours to complete a landscape masterpiece, which was then assessed by judges Marc Mayer, a former Director of the National Gallery of Canada, and award-winning artist and educator, Joanne Tod.
The judges determined the winners of each location. Two people from the six participants in each episode were selected move forward in the competition, Antaya said.
A neat aspect of the show is that the competition also had 50 artists try their luck as wildcards. If any of the wildcard artists’ work caught the judges’ eye, they too may have had a chance to compete in the final.
“It was terrifying, but it was amazing,” Antaya said of the experience of being on the series. “There is a lot of pressure.” She noted that every artist experiences those days where they may not be able to paint as they would like. She was hopeful she would be on point for her film day.
“It was a lot of fun. I met amazingly nice people,” Antaya said of her experience on the series. “I am really glad I did this. It was a great experience.”
Antaya said it was amazing just to be chosen to be on the show. “I am excited to see it air and be able to talk about it,” she said. She encourages other artists to take advantage of these types of opportunities. “Artists need to do things that push them out of their comfort zone to grow.”
Though Antaya was tight-lipped about the series’ details, those interested in watching the world broadcast premiere of “Landscape Artist of the Year Canada,” to find out who wins, can tune in Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT, starting February 16 on Makeful.
Log onto https://tv.bemakeful.com/ to learn more about the show, or visit her website at deniseantaya.com to learn more about Antaya.