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Home > News > Through Our Eyes: Veterans’ Voices in Art – Winner & Shortlist Announced 

15 June 2026

Through Our Eyes: Veterans’ Voices in Art – Winner & Shortlist Announced 

We are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Through Our Eyes: Veterans’ Voices in Art competition.

We are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Through Our Eyes: Veterans’ Voices in Art competition.

Congratulations to James McLeod, whose striking artwork, The Other Side, was selected by our judging panel as the overall winner. His piece captured this year’s theme, My Service, My Scotland, with honesty, creativity and emotional depth, leaving a lasting impression on the judges.

Congratulations also to Chloe Aldridge, whose artwork Rising of the Phoenix was chosen by the public to receive the People’s Choice Award, following fantastic support and votes from across the veteran community.

Both awards were presented during our Big Day Out on 20th June at Edinburgh Napier University Craiglockhart Campus, where veterans, families and partner organisations came together to celebrate Armed Forces Day and the remarkable talent within Scotland’s veteran community.

The winners of the art competition stand smiling in front of pictures of their artworks.

Earlier this month, we were proud to unveil the shortlist for the inaugural Through Our Eyes: Veterans’ Voices in Art competition. The response exceeded all expectations, with entries from veterans across Scotland sharing powerful personal stories through painting, photography, sculpture, digital art and mixed media.

The competition celebrated the creativity, resilience and lived experiences of Scotland’s veterans, encouraging artists to interpret the theme My Service, My Scotland in their own unique way. The result was an inspiring collection of work reflecting military service, identity, recovery, family, friendship and life beyond the Forces.

The shortlisted artists represented an exceptional standard of creativity and skill. Each piece stood out for its originality, storytelling and artistic merit, making the judges’ task an incredibly difficult one.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our judging panel for generously giving their time and expertise throughout the competition:

  • Liz Peck, Scottish landscape artist
  • Robert De Mey, art collector and curator
  • Jason Fearnley, artist and Warhead Project Director

Our thanks also go to everyone who viewed the shortlisted artwork and cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award. Congratulations once again to Chloe Aldridge, whose work resonated with so many people and earned her this special recognition.

Most importantly, thank you to every veteran who entered. Sharing personal experiences through art takes courage, and every submission added something meaningful to this year’s competition. Together, they created a powerful exhibition celebrating the voices, experiences and creativity of Scotland’s Armed Forces community.

Congratulations once again to James McLeod, our inaugural overall winner, and Chloe Aldridge, winner of the People’s Choice Award. We also extend our congratulations to every shortlisted artist whose outstanding work helped make the competition such a success.

Take a look at the winners and shortlisted entries below. We are already looking forward to welcoming even more artists when Through Our Eyes returns next year.

The other side. An image describing the stark reality of what it can be like for a veteran living in Scotland and the difficulties some veterans experience. Pencil and pen. A landscape line drawing showing a man sitting cross legged on the floor and the legs of five people walking past. Below is another line drawing with a women sat on her own on the left and a man sat on his own on the right.
From Services to civilian. Service life was colourful woven fabrics, rich with comrades, variety and recognition. 'Civvy street' paved not with gold but hard granite setts. From amongst that greyness the challenge was to go forward, find somewhere to fit-in and flourish again. Oil on canvas. A painting split into different sections, with faces painted on the top left. Below the faces is a section of camouflage patterns. Below this are three medals. On the right hand side of the painting is a brick wall pattern with white dotted circles.
Serviceable. This is a revision of previous work, where the aesthetic was delicate and ethereal; it was a reaction to Veterans First's decision to cease its help. The narrative added to the expected broken veteran narrative. This year, I am not broken, and I am not delicate, I reject the societal broken veteran expectation. Sculpture. Six grey pillars of different heights arranged in a two by three formation. There's a clear material that is wrapped around the pillars interconnecting them which makes a web-like shape near the top of the sculpture.
Rising of the Phoenix. For me this depicts my journey through my mental health battles and other traumatic events in my life and career, since moving home to Scotland life has been an uphill struggle, trying to cope with my C-PTSD, grief, divorce and complete isolation. Life has been very dark at times to the point of almost taking my own life, I feel a connection to the phoenix as no matter what it rises again and is the true symbol of hope and not to give up. An abstract painting with expressive brushstrokes of yellow, orange, red and black paint. There are splashes of white and black paint on top of this.
Mother Earth. This felted sculpture of 'Mother Earth' demonstrates how vital the natural world and wildlife has been to my mental and physical health. I served for 22 years in The Royal Air Force as a medic. During that time, I witnessed many distressing injuries and situations, both at home and in areas of conflict. This had a huge impact on my mental health and I was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression. Nature has a powerful and profound affect on my health and connection to it is very healing. A felted sculpture of a woman standing next to a globe. There are also felted animals surrounding the woman.
A Battle Of Two Minds. To this day I struggle with my health, both mentally and physically, life is a constant battle, triggers, memories and it is all to easy to slip back into the darkness, but with my toolbox and Veterans group, there is light and hope. You can take the girl out of the Army, but you will never take the Army out of the girl, the sadness and loss is always with you but you battle to keep those thoughts away and focus on the here and now. The left-hand side of the painting show poppies and gravestones under a grey sky. The middle of the painting shows two faces looking away from each other with a red broken heart between them. The right side of the painting show sea and blue sky with wind turbines in the background. There's also a green hill with a grey cross at the top.

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