I was also at the convention in Loughborough last August; and among the great experiences I had there was the very comprehensive art show, which shared the same large space as the dealers. Among the artists were a wide range of people, including two new (to me) people: Jenny Dolfen and Jay Johnstone.
While Jenny has already been mentioned earlier in this thread, for people who would like to get a glimpse of what her work looked like, and her take on the convention, her blog is here:
http://goldseven.wordpress.com/2012/...ough-pictures/
Jay Johnstone was exhibiting there for the first time; and I had a very nice talk with him one night, in which he spoke about how he came to start his Tolkien illustrations. Some can be seen on his website here:
http://www.jaystolkien.com/