Three student artists of the Isle of Man College have had their work recognised in a prestigious competition. Matthew Leece, Shelby Sandyford-Sykes and Pauline Berrie each won cash prizes of ?100 in the annual Norman Sayle Prize for Art competition ran by the Archibald Knox Society and sponsored by Isle of Man Post Office. Matthew secured the prize for the first year National Diploma award – overall body of work, Shelby, a second year HND student, won the category for the overall Knox/Sayle prize for Manx inspired artwork and first year HND student Pauline clinched the prize for the Knox/Sayle future prize for innovative work. Commenting on her award Shelby said: “I am very chuffed and shocked to have won. This year’s course has been an emotional rollercoaster as it can be difficult to think of new ideas and constantly be creative. I am very influenced by nature and Island life in all aspects of my work. I am so pleased to have won.” The work of all three artists impressed the panel of judges who were artist and freelance photographer Carola Rush, artist David Maddrell and artist Tracey Harding. The competition attracted an encouraging number of entries from students on First Year National Diploma to HND levels and they were judged on a body of work which included in its research phase an in-depth look at the art of both Archibald Knox and Norman Sayle. Isle of Man Post Office’s Chairman Alan Crowe MLC presented the awards to the three outstanding students along with Liam O’Neill, Founder of the Archibald Knox Society and Tracey Harding Chairman of the judging panel. Alan said: "The Isle of Man Post Office is delighted to be associated with the Norman Sayle/Archibald Knox Prize for Art. It rewards outstanding talents of Isle of Man College artists with whom Norman Sayle was associated with for so long. The Isle of Man Post Office is proud to display the work of Manx artists through its many issues of stamps each year and looks forward to displaying the work of today’s students in the future.” - Ends-