Held every year since 1769, the summer exhibition displays works in a variety of mediums and genres by emerging and established artists. This year, there were 16,500 entries, so to reach the first shortlist is an achievement in itself. The first round of selection was made from digital images of artworks, from which the judges shortlisted up to 4,000 entries that now have to be delivered to the Academy for the final selection. The results will be announced on Wednesday 24th May.

It’s been a decade since my first submission ‘Return of the Blueblack Hussar’ was selected for exhibition and included in the illustrated catalogue of selected works. Hopefully, this submission has a similar fate.

There is a video to accompany ‘REFLECTION: Are we losing sight of what makes us human?’ that can be viewed on my You Tube channel, Mary Baillie Art