What it’s like to have your art judged publicly - from a Portrait Artist of the Year Australia contestant
Art competitions don’t define artists but they do reveal parts of us we might not have seen otherwise.
If you’ve ever shared your artwork with others in a gallery, online, or even just with a friend, you’ll know that feeling of part excitement, part apprehension. Now, imagine doing that on national television. That’s the joy I got to experience on Australian Portrait Artist of the Year 2025 (PAOTY).
My self portrait entry for Portrait Artist of the Year Australia 2025
I’ve always had a complicated relationship with competitions. My older brother was a bit of a child prodigy. A high achiever and highly competitive (he was Australia’s youngest grandmaster in chess at one time). And in many ways I felt my parent’s expectation and the expectation of others that I would match his intelligence and excellence.
I did not.
And I think my way of dealing with that unachievable expectation was to shut off to competition altogether. I avoided competitions at all cost.
But as a professional artist, competitions are a key aspect of our practice and it’s in every artists’ best interest to enter them. But when you put your art into the world, you’re not just revealing a finished piece. You’re revealing the hours of self-doubt, joy, frustration, and quiet persistence that went into it. It’s deeply personal. And when that personal thing is publicly evaluated, it can feel like YOU are being judged, not just your work.
Margaret Pomeranz with Portrait Artist of the Year contestants Jamie Priesz, Katrina Okoronkwo and Anne Smerdon
Vulnerability and self-worth
I’ve always welcomed critique. I strongly believe the critique from key mentors can make us better as artists. I’ve always been someone who takes pride in doing things well, who thrives on positive feedback. So I crave constructive criticism from appropriate people. But that doesn’t make the criticism any easier to take.
The truth is, I’ve always found it hard to distance my self-worth from how others respond to my art. My default mode is to chase approval and often this is at the cost of authenticity. I describe myself as a “textbook people-pleaser” and often I’ll put the wants and needs of others ahead of my own. Which isn’t a bad thing. I think the world would be a better place if more people did that! But also, it can be detrimental to myself and my own health. And particularly when it comes to art, it can be hard to not be swayed by what you THINK people want you to paint, and what YOU actually want to paint.
My supportive husband is the key to my painting success. Here we stand together with my finished portrait from Portrait Artist of the Year
Learning to separate the two
Whenever you are entering any art competition, it is important to understand the painting being judged and the person who made it are not the same. Once your work leaves your hands, it belongs to the world. People will love it, misunderstand it, critique it, ignore it — and none of that changes its value, or yours. Your job as the artist is to make the work as true as possible to your own vision. After that, the rest is out of your control. And strangely, there’s comfort in that.
When I stopped clinging to how I wanted to be seen, I felt a quiet kind of freedom. Letting go of external approval doesn’t mean you stop caring — it means you start creating from a place of honesty, rather than fear. You make art that speaks for itself.
Since the experience of Portrait Artist of the Year Australia, I’ve noticed a subtle shift in my studio. I paint more intuitively. I experiment more. I’m less afraid of getting it “wrong.” Because really, what’s the worst that can happen? Someone doesn’t like it? That’s inevitable. I’m sure lots of people didn’t like my painting of Margaret Pomeranz on Portrait Artist of the Year Australia 2025. But what a joy it is to create something that feels genuinely mine.
I attribute a lot of my mindset shifts to my discussions with fellow PAOTY contestant Seabastion Toast on our podcast and Youtube channel, Smerdon Toast. I highly recommend all artists give some of our art challenges and exercises a go. They really have created momentous shifts in my work and helped me to be more experimental, more adventurous in my work and less tied to external validation.
Film critic Margaret Pomeranz and my finished 4 hour portrait of her from Portrait Artist of the Year Australia
Do I agree with the judges comments about my work on Portrait Artist of the Year?
Yes! Having my art judged publicly was humbling. I felt vulnerable. It definitely didn’t feel comfortable — but it’s been clarifying. I can completely see why the judges made the comments they did and I completely agree with them. It’s like I see painting portraiture through new eyes and I like my new vision! I’m excited to see how much further I can push my painting in future and I really have PAOTY to thank for opening me up to that.
Anne