Call us now 0333 090 0088
Go 
Back to news
PACK & SEND has named North Yorkshire artist Nga Ngo Quynh as the winner of its 2026 Art of the Year competition for Before the Night Falls. Berkshire artist Sheena Bulpitt took second place for A Certain Sense of Self, while Burnley artist Selina Maden was awarded third place for her wildlife and pet portrait work.
The national competition celebrates up-and-coming UK artists. It also reflects PACK & SEND’s long-standing work with artists, galleries, collectors, dealers and exhibitions that need specialist art courier, packing and shipping services.
Nga Ngo Quynh, a North Yorkshire artist based in Malton, won the 2026 PACK & SEND Art of the Year competition for her painting Before the Night Falls.
Born in Hanoi, Vietnam, Nga has lived in the UK for the past four years. She began painting only two years ago and now works mainly with soft pastel.
Her work explores landscape as a quiet form of storytelling. Rather than focusing on exact locations, she uses atmosphere, memory and moments of transition to create a sense of stillness and reflection.
The 2026 result also marks the second year in a row that the competition has been won by a North Yorkshire artist, following Cawood-based Sophia Hood’s win in 2025.
PACK & SEND Marketing Director Sam Whittaker said the company was delighted to announce Nga as the overall winner.
He said her work is influenced by rural environments and shifting weather, with an interest in stillness, light and the subtle presence of human life within the land.
Through restrained composition and layered mark-making, Nga creates open narratives. The viewer is invited to pause, look closely and bring their own interpretation to the landscape.
Second place was awarded to Sheena Bulpitt, a Berkshire-based artist working from a home studio in Upton Lea, for her painting A Certain Sense of Self.
Sheena began painting in 2019 after a road traffic accident in 2016 left her housebound and dealing with chronic nerve pain, FND and PTSD.
Her work explores identity, connection, form and expression. She combines abstraction and realism to create figurative paintings that focus on how people connect with one another.
Sheena’s art also carries memories of growing up in South Africa, where she spent most of her life before moving to the UK in the early 2000s.
Third place went to Burnley artist Selina Maden, who first discovered her talent for painting around 15 years ago after creating a mural for her daughter.
Selina mainly produces wildlife art and pet portraits. She sells much of her work through Facebook commissions and also appears at fairs and markets across Lancashire.
Working with pastels has become her main artistic language. Her aim is to capture the playful spirit of the animal kingdom and create artwork that sparks curiosity, laughter and conversation.
PACK & SEND’s Art of the Year competition celebrates emerging artists and helps them reach wider audiences. The winner receives £250 in vouchers to support the shipment of their own artwork with PACK & SEND.
For artists, shipping is not a small detail. Artwork often needs careful packing, strong protection and the right courier service. A painting, framed pastel, sculpture or mixed-media piece can be fragile, valuable and difficult to replace.
That is why art shipping needs a more careful approach than standard parcel delivery.
PACK & SEND provides postal, freight, courier, packing and removal services through a national service centre network. The company specialises in fragile, large, unusual and valuable items.
PACK & SEND is also an approved service provider to LAPADA, the UK’s largest association of professional art and antiques dealers.
The company is a preferred supplier of art shipping services to galleries, collectors, dealers, artists and exhibitions around the world. It has handled the packing and shipping of artworks by internationally recognised artists including Banksy, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Tracey Emin and Jeff Koons.
If you are choosing an art courier in the UK, start with the artwork itself. Think about the size, surface, frame, medium, value and destination.
Important factors include:
For valuable or fragile artwork, the cheapest courier is rarely the safest choice. The right art courier service should reduce risk before the item leaves the studio.
To find out more about how PACK & SEND works with fine artists, galleries, collectors and dealers, visit PACK & SEND UK.
For more information about Nga Ngo Quynh’s art, visit Nga Ngo Quynh on Instagram.
For more information about Selina Maden’s artwork, visit Selina Maden Art.
For more information about Sheena Bulpitt’s art, visit Sheena Bulpitt Fine Art Studio.
Nga Ngo Quynh, a North Yorkshire artist based in Malton, won PACK & SEND’s 2026 Art of the Year competition for her painting Before the Night Falls.
Sheena Bulpitt from Upton Lea, Berkshire, won second place for A Certain Sense of Self. Selina Maden from Burnley won third place for her wildlife and pet portrait work.
It is an annual competition that celebrates up-and-coming UK artists. The winner receives £250 in vouchers to support the shipment of their own artwork with PACK & SEND.
Yes. PACK & SEND provides specialist art courier, packing and shipping services for artists, galleries, collectors, dealers and exhibitions across the UK and internationally.
Packed & Less Than 30kg?