Winner's Circle
First Prize:
Kristin Herzog
Dreams I Don’t Remember
Acrylic, collage
This award-winning artwork creates a compelling and expressive composition. The artist’s use of a muted yet dynamic color palette, rich textures, and a balance of organic and geometric forms evokes depth and emotion. Expressive lines and layered marks guide the viewer’s eye, while the interplay of positive and negative space adds drama. The softly rendered face contrasts with chaotic abstract elements, creating a striking focal point. Light and dark contrasts, rhythmic repetition, and asymmetrical balance contribute to the piece’s energy and unity.
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Second Prize:
Nancy Aldridge
The Emperors
Watercolor
This watercolor painting effectively creates a visually harmonious and expressive composition. The color palette is minimal yet impactful, with soft washes of blue, black, and yellow creating depth while maintaining the lightness and translucency characteristic of watercolor. The use of shape and form is simplified, allowing the viewer to recognize the penguins through suggestive, fluid brushstrokes rather than strict realism. Line and contrast play a crucial role, with bold, inky strokes defining the birds’ beaks, wings, and feet against the softer white areas, emphasizing their structure. The arrangement of the penguins creates a rhythmic flow, leading the eye naturally from one figure to the next, conveying a sense of camaraderie and interaction. Negative space is skillfully used to balance the composition, ensuring the figures do not feel overcrowded.
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Third Prize:
Bonnie Delp
Great Beach Day
Oil
This landscape painting creates a serene and immersive coastal scene. The use of color is striking, with a rich palette of blues, greens, yellows, and soft pinks that evoke the natural beauty of a beach setting. The texture created by thick, expressive brushstrokes adds depth and movement, particularly in the clouds and foliage, enhancing the painting's tactile quality. The composition is well-balanced, with the foreground plants leading the eye toward the distant horizon, establishing a strong sense of perspective and depth. Light and shadow are skillfully applied, with contrast emphasizing the warmth of the sand against the cooler tones of the sky and ocean.
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