A painting of Eccles Town Hall has been awarded ‘Artwork of the month’ in a national magazine.
Painted by Salford-based artist, Philip Westcott, ‘Eccles Town Hall’ won the award in the Artist and Illustrators magazine.
Mr Westcott was awarded with a £50 shopping voucher and will be featured in the end of 2023’s recap of the year’s winners.
He said: “Its great to win this award and great to see how Eccles can be appreciated. It’s not something people would normally do, but the way the light reflects and the colour on the Town Hall, it’s not something you normally see. It’s the fact that people don’t normally capture Eccles.”
Philip began painting in the late 1970s, after he was commissioned to paint a series on the demolition of Salford’s terrace houses. He feels capturing the beauty of Salford and Manchester is paramount to his style.
Mr Westcott continued: “Its something artists have done over the years, Lowry, Riley, Tom Brown who’ve been capturing the scene for years. Salford is something close to my heart, I was born just off Eccles Old Road.”
“I started off in the late 70s when the old terrace houses were coming down. I did a series of paintings on the demolition work. It meant a lot to me, then I moved onto Salford precinct as I enjoyed painting with people.
“When I went to university in Leeds, Salford was seen as a ‘third world town’ back then. There was a bit of snobbery about Salford and it wasn’t seen as a very nice place. Salford has transformed so much now, so a lot of my paintings are quite nostalgic for many people.”
Philip has since gone on to capture scenes from all over Salford, Manchester and beyond, with his landscapes, cityscapes and digital drawings kept in private collections worldwide.
Philip plans to spend his £50 prize money on art books and materials. He said: “It can be very costly getting art materials so it’s a nice reward.”
For more information on Philip’s work, visit his website.
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