Corsham artist Anthony Pates has been named Oldie British Artist (OBA) 2014, with a painting described by judges as ‘in the great English landscape tradition’.

The award, launched three years ago by The Oldie magazine, is only open to the over-60s. Mr Pates was declared this year’s winner of the £3,000 prize at a ceremony held at London's Petyt Hall after his work, together with that of nine other finalists, had been displayed at the prestigious Abbott and Holder Gallery.

Mr Pates studied painting at Gloucester College of Art and then, after two years' national service, he worked as a model-maker and exhibition organiser until he retrained as a picture restorer to enable him to combine a career with his own artistic development. For many years his work has focused on the English landscape.

Of his prize-winning painting, Evening landscape near Box, he said: “The early mornings and evenings are special times for me and this work reflects the way I like to use the paint to capture the sudden fluctuations of light and shade on the landscape created by the weather.

“I am thrilled to have won and with the comments made by the judges. I was encouraged to learn that Brian Sewell was chairing the judging panel; I have been reading him for years and knew he would like my work. However, as I work largely in miniature, I did think that the size of my painting might go against me as larger works usually tend to win competitions. I plan to continue with painting in this style as there is still plenty of beautiful British landscape to go for.”