The brand new EAC People’s Choice Award, which will be awarded for the first time in 2009, looks set to be a very popular addition to the EAC Over 60s Art Awards prize-giving ceremony, to be held this year at the Bankside Gallery on 1st December.

There have now been 12 full days of busy online voting, with another 9 to go before voting closes late on Monday 30th November.

There are 101 finalists’ artworks in the online gallery, representing painting, drawing, print-making, collage, photography, textiles, sculpture, glass and enamel-work, with artists' ages ranging from 60 to 95.

So, where’s the voting up to?

1931 votes have now been cast and 456 comments posted.

There have been 4,600 visits to the website since 9th November when the online voting was launched, and 62,090 page views, indicating a healthy interest in the website, which is very encouraging for the future.

The Top 5 have been remarkably stable almost from the beginning, with Gordon Morley’s “Downham Village” currently established in 1st position, just ahead of Gerald Hudson’s “Venice”, and Diana Hudson’s “ Big Ambitions”. (they are not related, as far as I know) However, with nine days to go, anything can still happen; strong contenders that have suddenly appeared in the Top 10 over the last week include Joan Speare’s “Van Gogh Landscape” and Nickie Jones’s “Sophie” and if they have done it, so can others.

Thank you to all those who have voted and particularly to those who have also taken time to add a comment. Many finalists have themselves visited the site and offered feedback on others’ work, which must be the best kind of support for artists themselves.

One thing that the website might develop before next year is the capacity to offer a forum, where artists can hold a two way conversation, whereas this year there is only the facility to comment on individual art works….and to read this blog. So, as a half-way measure, how about using the Contact Us page on the website to submit more general reflections, comments, suggestions, ideas (constructive please!) and I’ll include them in several blogs that I’ll post over the next week.

Meanwhile, it may be raining outside, but enjoy the art gallery inside, and take the opportunity to vote in the next few days. It may well get very busy over next weekend.

Well, it happened. As promised, yesterday 9th November, in the late afternoon, www.eacartawards.org.uk launched its online voting for the EAC People’s Choice Award 2009, and, it would seem, brought about the site’s busiest day ever – busier even than the results day over a week ago!
Already voting is very lively, and a number of very appreciative comments have been posted.
Voting has just 22 days to run in total, before the winner of the online competition is declared at the exhibition preview on 1st December.
So, take this opportunity to vote. You don’t have to be a finalist, or even an artist. You just have to know what you like and most of us do that when it comes to art! So go ahead and enjoy voting, and don’t forget to post some comments about as many works of art as you wish, while you’re on the website. A complimentary and constructive comment might go a long way to encourage talent and renew energy, and it doesn’t cost anything!

Well, we hope that all the artists who got good news about their entry into the 2009  Art Awards have now calmed down, and started to plan an early Christmas trip to London! Congratulations to all of you, both those accepted into the exhibition and those awarded a Highly Commended by the judges. It really was a stiff round of judging, and very intense, narrowing down over 2150 entries into an exhibition of only 101 works of art.

If, on the other hand, you were one of the entrants who got a disappointing result, then you have our sympathy. If you have any ideas for the future; how to include more people at all stages of the competition, and how to better celebrate the undoubted talent that flourishes among artists from (this year) 60 to 96 years of age, then we’d love to hear from you.

On another note, a great deal of hard work is going on behind the scenes to bring you the Online Voting by Monday 9th November. We are testing the site to try to keep gremlins at bay, and look forward to inviting you all back online to view the 2009 Finalists Gallery, and cast your votes for your three favourite artworks among the 101 selected for exhibition in December. If all goes well, then the Online Voting should go live tomorrow evening - Monday 9th November. Watch this space!

"King George V Graving Dock" - an entry from one of this years's older artists: Joan Aubry, aged 95.

and "All That Gas", an entry from a youngster at 61, Hannah Kent