Farécla Bonnet Painting Competition (2019) - Meet the Judges

Excitement is mounting as the Grand Finals of the Farécla Apprentice & Student Bonnet Painting Competition approaches; taking place on Wed 2nd October at Farécla HQ in Hertfordshire.

Our expert panel of judges are equally thrilled to take part in the contest and look forward to the Grand Final which will be live-streamed on our Facebook page.

This year’s judges are:

We are delighted to have on board, Chris Pennell, UK Technical Manager at leading paint company PPG, who will be bringing his years of expertise into the judgement. 

Chris himself began his career as a 16 year old apprentice in a bodyshop and worked as a multi-skilled technician before progressing to Paint shop manager in charge of 6 refinishers. 

He then moved to PPG working in the quality department linked to manufacturing and product development, and after one year moved into refinishing sales in the training department, where after 15 months, he was promoted to UK and Ireland Training Manager. In 2015 he was promoted to PPG Technical Manager.

“There are three mains areas I will be looking for regarding the entries,” said Chris. “Firstly, planning and preparation. What inspired the design and what background work went into the preparation? Secondly, flair and design, the look and feel of the bonnet, the artistic content, use of colour and creativity, and thirdly, the technical execution, detail of the design, overall finish and effect.”

Farécla is equally thrilled to have Matthew Baldry joining the judging panel this year. Matthew is a talented painter who won a Gold medal in the national IMI Skill Auto competition last year for Refinishing. His car bonnet in the finals, a tribute to WW1 soldiers, was amazing and now hangs pride of place in the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham Barracks.

As well as a love of cars, Matthew has managed to combine his love of painting in his career. Both his father and grandfather specialised in the bodyshop industry as a panel beater and painter.

“I’m looking forward to judging the car bonnets at the event,” said Matthew. “Prior to joining the trade I did Fine Art at college, so as well as technical application I will be also judging on people’s interpretation of the brief and imagination in their design. Custom work is all about precision.”

Completing the judging panel line-up for 2019 is Tom French, Graphic Design and Brand Manager for Farécla. “I am looking forward to the talent that will be displayed in the Grand Final,” said Tom. 

“Based on last year’s entrants, I’m always impressed by the quality of work from the students and apprentices, and the five finalists selected for the Grand Final are to be congratulated on getting this far in the competition.”

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