Teen triumphs: 17-year-old student wins Portrait Artist of the Year
Meet Jasmine 'Jazz' Lancaster Merton, the 17-year-old high school student who has become the youngest winner of the Portrait Artist of the Year competition. Her remarkable journey began when she submitted a self-portrait and was selected to compete against 53 other artists.
At just 17 years old, Jasmine 'Jazz' Lancaster Merton has become the youngest winner of the prestigious Portrait Artist of the Year competition. Her remarkable journey began when she submitted a self-portrait and was selected to compete against 53 other artists.
Jazz, a North Sydney teen, had initially planned to attend her year 12 camp but instead found herself at a Sydney warehouse, armed with coloured pencils and a growing sense of trepidation. She was tasked with creating a portrait of singer Casey Donovan in just four hours.
"I caught wind pretty immediately that I was going to be the youngest one there," the North Sydney teen says with a laugh. "And from that, definitely the least experienced in anything."
Jazz's passion for art has been a lifelong pursuit, with her bedroom doubling as her studio. Portraits quickly became her favourite style, and she found solace in the infinite possibilities of capturing people's likenesses.
"I don't really paint or draw anything much else; I think I just really like people," she says. "I really like that people sort of customise themselves in different ways. And there's an infinite amount of possibilities of what people can look like."
Jazz's win in the Portrait Artist of the Year competition has catapulted her into the spotlight. She was commissioned to paint a portrait of actor and entertainer Justine Clarke, which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
Despite the whirlwind of attention, Jazz remains focused on completing her education and is planning a gap year to pursue further artistic opportunities.
"I am just so stoked that I have told the world that I love art, and that's something that I am going to keep doing forever."
Jazz's portrait of Justine Clarke has been met with praise from both the subject and the public, with many admiring her "wonderful artistic sensibility" and "incredible level of skill".
As Jazz looks to the future, she is eager to meet other artists and explore the possibilities of a career in art.
"[Before the show] I'd never really met actually professional artists," she says. "So it was something where I went, 'Wow, there's people who do have the courage to pursue that.'"