Jaden Appears In BBC Young Artist Of The Year

A St Paul’s student has featured in a national art competition, getting all the way to the semi-final of the BBC Young Artist of the Year.

Year 9 student Jaden entered the competition after he saw a poster at school. Two months later he received the news that he had been selected to appear on the show. In his first episode he had to create a piece of fan art. To inspire them, the contestants met an artist who has created fan art for some of the world’s most famous films, and then tried some parkour to perfect their action poses for their final masterpiece.

The judges, Ricky Martin, also known as ‘The Art Ninja’ and Sadie Clayton, an artist renowned for her sculptural copper pieces and her fashion designs, chose Jaden to take part in the semi-final. Jaden said: “I wasn’t expecting to go through to the semi-final, I was surprised and excited.”

In the semi-final Jaden went to Hackney in East London to help out at a community centre and to meet and learn more about special guest Dr Ronx, an A & E doctor and TV presenter. The contestants had to create a piece of art on the theme of community. Although his journey ended at the semi-final, Jaden was delighted to be a part of the show and enjoyed the whole filming experience.

Miss White, Jaden’s Art teacher, said:  “Jaden is an extremely talented young artist who spends an enormous amount of time and effort on the artwork he produces. We were all wowed right at the start of the year with his beautiful flower paintings in the style of Georgia O’Keefe and we are so impressed to see him expand on his talents in this BBC series.“

The BBC Young Artist of the Year is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The episodes featuring Jaden are episode 9 and episode 12.