Susan Isaac – Magdalen Bridge, Oxford

The first time I visited Oxford, I came into the city across the Magdalen Bridge. It felt like a very significant conduit leading into another world, with the Magdalen Tower beckoning from just beyond. My attention, when I was composing the painting, was focused on the classical balustrade of the bridge. It appeared like a series of Etruscan vases processing towards the town, topped by a spreading cushion of stone made velvet green with very fine mosses like a Victorian fireside bench. The aged tree on the right seemed to be standing sentinel whilst showering the air with a  wispy lattice of branches, their delicate ephemeral nature countering the enduring mass of the bridge.

I was delighted when the painting was accepted into the Leicester & East Midlands Open 26, the exhibition running from 14 Mar to 4 May, 2015 at the Newarke Houses Museum & Gardens in Leicester – and even more so when it was awarded the Wilson Browne prize.