AN ANDOVER artist brushed shoulders with the industry’s elite last weekend on her way to scooping a prestigious fine art award.

Alex McGarry was named Up and Coming Artist of 2019 at the Framing Industry Awards ceremony, run by the Fine Art Trade Guild.

She won the award after an online poll which included five other artists, but Alex says she was very much taken aback by the result.

“It was so good to be nominated, I didn’t really expect to win,” she said.

“I was up against some good artists so I was completely surprised.”

The Fine Art Trade Guild is a body more than 100 years old which oversees the fine art print trade.

The awards ceremony took place at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday, May 18, with guests from across the fine art industry viewing an exhibition before the category winners were announced.

Alex added: “The award ceremony was really nice because it’s all galleries and publishers and artists so it’s a good networking event.”

Following the exhibition, organisers ran through the list of nominees before confirming Alex as the winner and inviting her on stage for an impromptu speech.

“I just winged it,” she said.

“The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur doing photos and stuff.”

Alex’s success comes after the recent opening of an exhibition in Odiham, where six of her 12 paintings were sold on the opening night.

Next up is a trip to the Framemakers Gallery in Cirencester on Saturday, June 29, for another exhibition of her work.

“I’ve got a big show coming up at the end of June so I’ve got my head down getting ready for that.”

“It’s a big gallery so that should be a good one.”

For more information on Alex and her work, go to alexmcgarry.co.uk.