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Simon and Helen Swaby of
DeMontfort Fine Art Ltd
with the Award. |
Simon scooped a major national award in 2000 by becoming the Fine Art Trade Guild 's UK Best Selling Original Print Artist. Simon Bull, who became the first artist ever to be short-listed for the two top awards in the commercial art business, won outright the Artist’s Print award for best selling artist of hand made prints and was short-listed to the top four in the Published Artist of the Year award.
The Awards ceremony took place in Stratford-upon-Avon on 13th May, and was hosted by the Fine Art Trade Guild, the trade association that represents the retail art and framing business in this country. The hunt for the nation's best selling artist is extensive and involves every one of the Fine Art Trade Guild member galleries and art retailers completing a questionnaire about their most popular artists.
The short-listed finalists are then invited to attend the award dinner, which is the art industry equivalent of Oscars Night. Delighted with his latest accolade, Simon, who was first short-listed for the award in 1997, said: “When I launched my first series of highly colored etchings in 1995 I could never have imagined that they were going to become the UK’s best selling etchings!
Winning the best seller award has been a fantastic experience, and it has been made possible, not just because of my pictures, but by the incredible team of people that have supported me both creatively and in business over the last few years.
Simon first developed his unique method of printmaking after traditional etching techniques failed to give the purity of color and freedom of expression that he sought. He began experimenting with monotypes, enriching their surfaces with acrylic inks, pastels and gold leaf. His work is in many collections worldwide, including that of the British Royal Family. | 
