Mr Mould was due to travel to the Channel Islands in 2020 for one of the Island’s longest-standing arts events, whose history dates back to the early 1980s when the Jersey Arts Centre was newly open to the public.
He became the first judge in the event’s history to perform his task remotely when the pandemic prevented a visit in person. Now he has been invited to undertake the task for a second time and if it does not tempt fate, he is looking forward to ‘getting up close to the work this year’.
He said: ‘In terms of remote judging it wasn’t, of course, ideal. I think whenever you look at these works it’s important to assess them in the context of everything around them, to get a feel for the mix and to appreciate the differences in the pieces.
He said that ‘getting a collective feel for the work in the room is normally very important’, adding: ‘I would also normally make much of such elements as scale, texture, detail, and application of medium – all of which are difficult on screen.’
A highly successful illustrator of children’s books, Mr Mould has taken part in literary events at festivals including Edinburgh, Bath and Cheltenham, and his clients include a diverse range of organisations from the BBC and Channel Four to the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Financial Times and Oxford University Press.
Some of his own work will be available to the Jersey public in an exhibition whose opening has been set to coincide with his judging duties.
Mr Mould said he was ‘keen to show some artwork from my collaboration with Matt Haig on his Christmas books as the film of the first book from that series comes out this year, A Boy Called Christmas’.
He added: ‘And having recently worked on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, I know the artwork is returning to me shortly so I may also have time to frame that. I’m not sure pigs and Christmas go together but we’ll see what makes sense as we come closer.’
The announcement of Mr Mould’s appointment as judge coincides with a call to artists resident in the Island to produce work for the competition which last year was won by Martin McDowell, recipient of the top prize in 1987 and one of a number of artists from across the islands to win more than once. Entries have to be prepared for submission to the Arts Centre on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 September.
The competition offers a top prize of £1,000 to the winner and an award of £500, in memory of former J J Fox International managing director Jock Russell, to an artist aged 12 to 18.
Works can be in any medium except photography but are limited in size and must be securely framed. They must also not have been shown previously at the Arts Centre. Entry costs £5 for two works and full details of the conditions are on the entry form available from the Jersey Arts Centre website: arts.je.
Following the judging, which will take place on 18 September, Mr Mould’s exhibition runs in the Arts Centre’s Berni Gallery from 20 September to 9 October, immediately before work from this year’s exhibition goes on display to the public from 12 October to 6 November.
