Shortlisted: A Small Big Thing

This weekend, I dropped off Monstera Deliciosa I for final adjudication at the Royal Ulster Academy. It was shortlisted in the first round and I’m still in a bit of a daze about it, to be honest.

Monstera Deliciosa I, Anna Hutchinson, 2025 | © 2025 Anna Hutchinson

When I fully stepped into acknowledging myself as an artist earlier this year, I could never have imagined this happening. I was making, stitching, figuring things out - which is what I am continuing to do, really. I very nearly didn’t bother entering anything to RUA, I had the entries paid for, but time was running out and I was so busy with exhibition prep I didn’t see the point. I made the time, and I did submit two pieces. Now here I am with one piece of mine in the running for one of the island’s biggest exhibitions.

It’s a weird in-between place. I won’t know the final decision for a few weeks. I’m hopeful, of course. Wishful. Trying not to get too caught up in imagining the outcome. The calibre of work that gets submitted is phenomenal, so I’m holding onto hope lightly, but also letting myself be proud of my achievement in being shortlisted, and I am celebrating that! So I’ve decided to mark the moment in a way that feels right for where I’m at at this moment in time

This week, I’m holding a sale on my Skyscapes prints including the Special Editions and the sale will be for a few days, only.

More details will go to my email list first, before I announce it publicly.

If you’ve been here cheering me on from the sidelines, thank you. That support is part of what carries me daily.

Ax