Wootton Bassett artist Lucille Moore has picture exhibited by Royal Academy

Lucille and husband Toby Carter travelled across the United States and Lucille found herself enchanted by the wide open landscapes of Texas and Arizona, and the history behind them. She scooped the prestigious £1000 Academy Prize for her mixed media picture, when it was chosen to be part of the RWA’s Annual Open Exhibition, now in its 166th year. The exhibition features a stunning variety of art from emerging and established artists.

Lucille, 33, is delighted to have won the award – and hopes it will propel her artistic practice into a full time career.

“It was chosen by both Stewart Geddes, president of the RWA, and a previous president Janette Kerr. He curated and knew all the work. He just said it stood out,” Lucille said. “He found the juxtaposition between the naïve way of working and the dark subject matter interesting.”

She added: “I heard two women talking about Lynched, and they said it was an emotional piece.”

The RWA, in Bristol, is the UK’s only regional Royal Academy of Art. The exhibition, which runs till November 25, features painting, drawing, print-making, photography, sculpture, installation and mixed media pieces from artists across the country and beyond. The works of art are chosen by an expert panel and this year includes art world stars like Kurt Jackson, as well as first-time exhibitors such as another Swindon artist, Julie Brandstatter, with her pencil and ink picture, The Room.

“I will use the prize to continue to make work, and to exhibit,” she said. “Framing costs, entering costs, it all adds up. The award has come at a perfect time for me – I am going to be self employed and try to push my work.”

Despite Lucille’s modest answer, this is only the latest of a series of plaudits she has received for her art. Lucille’s work has already attracted notice and this talented artist has exhibited her work in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in London and been adopted by Print Club London.

She was born in Cheltenham and grew up in the Cotswolds. Art has always been a passion, and Lucille studied at the Winchester Art School.

“I always knew that was what I wanted to do,” she said. “My grandmother was always painting, and very good at painting, and my grandfather on the other side was an incredible draughtsman, though neither took it further than being a hobby.”

She took art lessons from Matthew Harris at Pitville Studios in Cheltenham, and studied textile art at Winchester.

“It’s fine art using textile techniques, such as weaving, tapestry, dyeing fabrics,” Lucille explained.

She says she had a difficult moment on leaving university, wondering how to develop her creative practice.

“I dithered a bit. All of a sudden, all of that support is gone and you are cut loose.”

She rented a studio for a little while, took a job in a doctor’s surgery and even considered retraining to be a nurse – except that the urge to create art did not go away. Lucille changed track and started working for an upholsterer, then became an art technician at Cirencester College, and then New College in Swindon.

She met Toby at Cirencester College, where he was a photography technician, and the couple moved to Wootton Bassett three years ago. Lucille started working at the Swindon Alcohol and Drug Service, where she took over the art project, creating a new programme and workshops.

“It was a big task, but I did workshops on drawing, print-making, textiles and sculpture. It was a really good two and a half years,” she said.

Lucille left the post when she found out she was pregnant, and now has a baby son, Cassidy.,

Outside her day job, however, Lucille had never stopped her own creative work.

“I went through a stage of making sculptures out of papier mache, and dabbled in jewellery making,” she recalled. “When I finished university, my confidence dropped hugely. When I started to get work that was creative, my confidence started to grow. One day, I thought I would enter an open exhibition – there was no point in me making work and it getting stuffed away somewhere or thrown in the bin.”

The first exhibition Lucille entered work for was the RWA Drawn 2015. Her piece called Fluffy Women was accepted, as well as Leopard Lady and Kali. Lucille was, unsurprisingly, delighted at this first major success.

“I was bouncing off the walls!” she said.

Fluffy Women was later accepted at the Royal Academy Summer Open exhibition in London, where it sold on the very first night.

The successes continued: in 2016, her picture Adorable One was selected for the RWA Open, and in 2017, Print Club London invited her to submit work for their print catalogue. She created a picture inspired by the novel Bonjour Tristesse for their exhibition called Blisters – the Paperback Edition and had work pre-selected for this year’s Royal Academy Summer Open.

The BBC had even asked Lucille if she would be interested in starring in their programme about the exhibition – but reluctantly had to decline because she was due to give birth.

She says the idea for Lynched came from an emotional place.

“I try not to think about it too much. I connect a feeling to an image. I tend to look at vulnerability. It’s a historical image, but relevant to today, metaphorically speaking, with what goes on in social media. I was looking not at the person being lynched, but at the crowd.”

The inspirational US road trip was actually initiated by Toby’s wish to see America, she said.

“I didn’t think it would have the impact it did,” she said. “I have really fallen for it. Everything seems a bit extreme. The landscape is so vast. We loved Texas and Arizona and Louisiana as well.”

The trip continues to influence her work, and she is planning a trip to the American Museum in Bath to get more inspiration. Lucille is also investigating the possibility of running workshops at the Richard Jefferies Museum in Swindon.

In the meantime, you can see Lynching at the RWA in the exhibition, which has turned out to be something of a family affair as Lucille’s mother in law Jill Carter also had work accepted – a picture called The Guardians.

For more information on Lucille’s work, visit lucillemoore.co.uk.