Art lovers in the South East are enjoying a wide variety of painting, sculpture and pottery at the Association of Sussex Artists show in Horsham. 

As in previous years, I am showing a range of works and was delighted to be asked to sit on the judging panel for a second year.

It is particularly exciting to see a number of individuals who have been educated in classical oil painting exhibiting at the show including Jason Tremlett and Pam Gowing (winner of the 2D award). Their works, along with the beautiful landscape paintings of regular exhibitors Dennis Roxby-Bott and Hagop Kasparian were my stand-out artworks of this year's show.

​The Association of Sussex Artists Annual Exhibition runs until Saturday 25th August at the Drill Hall, Horsham. It is open from 10.30 - 5pm daily. Entrance is free.

It seems hard to believe but I am approaching the end of my four years of training at LARA and it felt like an appropriate time to change things up a bit on my website. I think the new look is cleaner and more striking than the previous one. I'm hoping it'll provide a good basis for documenting my work over the coming months as I set up my studio at home and begin taking my work in new directions.

You'll also notice the change of name. Ever since I started showing my work in local and regional exhibitions, I have had a niggling suspicion that the name I was using was a little, shall we say, less than memorable. With that in mind, I've drafted into service one of my middle names. So, it's adios 'Benjamin Smith Fine Art'. For professional purposes, you will now be able to find me as Ben Laughton Smith!