Awards and Comments
Best in Show
Tammy S. Mcentee
Green Gourd
25x21x2
Colored pencil
Judge’s comment: Incredible technique, beautiful variation in tones, simple yet confident composition. I know this was supposed to represent a green fruit, but it could be a caterpillar, a circle of life, with the heavy fruit on the bottom and light slender tendrils on the top of the frame. Realistic and abstract at the same time.
Award of Excellence
Chas Palminteri
Xango ll
36x48x2
Acrylic
Judge’s comment: Mesmerizing combination of energizing strokes, areas of solid color, and lines. Abstraction at its best. Beautiful color, filled with contrasts. Emotionally heavy and light at the same time.
Award of Excellence
Paula Pearl
Wave Study
12x12x1
Oil paint
Judge’s comment: Almost monochromatic, yet incredibly complex nuances in tones. Warm center of the wave contrasted with the cool ocean and skies tells a layered visual story.
Award of Merit
Richard William Haynes
After The Rain
29x36x2
Gouache
Judge’s comment: Wonderful technique, incredible sense of light. Fascinating contrast between the white soft flower and the dark hard grid in the background.
Award of Merit
Kat Block
The Day Breaks
18x36x1
Mixed media
Judge’s comment: Lovely nature scene that goes beyond just depicting trees and leaves. Unusual angle of view and composition. The piece seems to be a conglomerate of individual abstracted moments that beautifully translate the experience.
Honorable Mention
Leina’Ala Schwartz
California Fire
24x18x1
Oli Paint
Judge’s comment: Turner-like sky and a documentary photograph. Because of that contrast, the piece feels oddly contemporary. The burning landscape is a metaphor and combination of the above-mentioned conventions is alluring.
Honorable Mention
June Fisher-Markowitz
New baby
18x24x1
Watercolor
Judge’s comment: Dark, mysterious, almost de-skilled scene that should be sweet and tender. I’m fascinated by the tension between what this should be and what it is.
Honorable Mention
Justin Brubaker
Day’s End
14x18x0.25
Oil paint
Judge’s comment: Captivating technique. The scene is incredibly simple, but I am taken by the amount of details. Beautiful use of selective contrast to create a 3D effect.