award winner
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Skies
Saturday, November 18th, 2023
Cumulonimbus: Montana Sunset (2020), 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper. For many years I’ve wanted to try painting night skies. In July 2007, I was driving through Montana to Alberta as the setting sun bounced golden-pink hues through the already fantastic storm clouds. I pulled over and took some photos, thinking that even if they didn’t turn out, something is better than nothing. Reference photos don’t have to be perfect to bring back the experience of a particular moment; they are just a starting point. I intend to paint this with acrylics when I’m through with my soft pastel kick.
Six pieces are showcased in Art Room Gallery’s “Skies” Nov. 17 – Dec. 17, 2023.
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
In Full Bloom 2023
Friday, August 11th, 2023
Eucalyptus Flowers and Seed Pods, 20H x 16W inches acrylics on canvas with weathered-look wood frame, has won a Silver Award in the 2023 In Full Bloom Online Art Exhibition at J. Mane Gallery, August 14th through Sept.
Asian Elephant
Saturday, September 10th, 2022
Asian Elephant (Aug. 2020), Tad Sai Waterfall, Luang Prabang, Laos – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. 
Received “Artistic Excellence” award and now showing in Fusion Art’s 7th Annual “Animal Kingdom” International Online Juried Art Exhibition, September 2022. ‘American Green Tree Frog’ (2022) is also in the exhibition.
Mind, Body, Spirit
Thursday, September 1st, 2022
Renee at Dance Class, (2007) 11H x 14W inches graphite on paper, NFS – prints only. 3rd Place winner, J. Mane Gallery Mind, Body, Spirit 2022 exhibition showing through September.
Flower Power Exhibition
Friday, July 22nd, 2022
Goldenrod, (2019) Ouimette Canyon, Ontario, Canada, 12H x 12W inches acrylics on canvas
Bronze Award winner in Camelback Gallery’s “Flower Power 2022 International Juried Arts Exhibition”.
Camelback Gallery International Achievement Awards
Tuesday, June 28th, 2022
Blue Flag Iris, (2021) 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Finalist Award, 2022 Camelback Gallery International Achievement Awards in Pastel.
Also showcased in Fusion Art’s 8th Annual Leaves & Petals Exhibition through August 2022.
Honorable Mentions
Thursday, June 16th, 2022
 |
 |
Asian Elephant (2020) and Healthy Squirrel (2022) 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper, each are $750, framed. Both ‘Honorable Mention’ in Contemporary Art Room Online Gallery ‘Animals’ exhibition, May through June, 2022.
Petrified Forest
Friday, December 24th, 2021
Petrified Forest, Crystal Forest Trail, AZ – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”, white wood frame, crackle finish.
In addition to Kananaskis Valley (mentioned earlier in Grey Cube Gallery Forests and Meadows), this piece won a merit award in Contemporary Art Room’s exhibition, “Trees and Fields”, showing online through December, 2021.
Zen Garden 02
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
Zen Garden 02, 48W x 24H x 1D inches mixed media: texture medium, sand, white glue, modeling paste, kitty litter (new of course!), plaster. Wrapped sides painted, frame unnecessary. Sold but can be recreated, not exactly, but in the same spirit as the original.
This painting won the Visual Art Society of Texas title of Artist of the Year (2009) for me at Thursday night’s meeting. This piece hangs vertically, horizontally or can be flipped upside down 2 ways; four different orientation hanging options.
Most of the Zen Garden series are experimental, seeking various ways to obtain the raked sand look without having to pay high prices for the ready-made texture mediums that don’t cover much surface. Zen Garden #2 uses kitty litter bought at the dollar store mixed in varying portions with the above fillers, scooped into a large ziploc bag that was cut in the corner and squeezed out like cake icing onto the canvas. I still had to maneuver the medium into place with fingers because it was so thick coming out of the bag, due to the new absorption factors of new brands of kitty litter. I’ll experiment with aquarium sand and pebbles, or any number of other pet products that are far less expensive than art supplies.
While titles and awards can help refuel encouragement, finding our own source of motivation keeps us working and growing continually, regardless. Robert Genn in The Painter’s Keys has some interesting words about the subject of jurying and acceptance or non-acceptance, quoting Jung, Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.
Acceptance
Monday, October 8th, 2007
Competitions, online galleries and juried exhibitions
Three works were accepted into Artjury.com’s 2007 Fall / Winter National Online Juried Exhibition: Galahs in Traffic, Mayan Bowl Chair, and Linden Sunset.
There’s controversy that entering competitions is purely about vanity. For us who need to self-promote, we understand that it’s more about career stability and advancement than the ego. Still the question of ego exists, so a little devil-artist on the shoulder is good to have because we need to stay tuned to our arts’ original meaning and purpose. Evaluation is always in order. For the most part, self-promotion is personal, often uncomfortable, and a very humbling and enlightening experience rather than an egoistic one. We need to search deep for our very best, and stay open to every opinion.
Acceptance by peers means a lot, but accepted or not, honest feedback and interaction with those who also love what they do and know what they’re talking about, or hearing from those who appreciate art and enjoy discussing it, is really beneficial. We encourage each other, and straight-forward critiques go a long way. Any kind of response helps us consider the direction we will take moving forward.
Recognition and validation are helpful because faith in this vocation waxes and wanes. Many of us ask from time to time: What am I doing this for? or: What’s the big deal about Art anyway? We are so closely involved with it as daily work that the personal and the professional are one and the same. Art is our life, and monetary or “ribbon-ary” validation is encouraging! Primarily though, motivation must be self-perpetuated. For work to work, we need to love what we do. No amount or content of external comments affects the genuine drive to create it.
If we haven’t yet captured our big break with gallery representation, it takes a long time to learn the do’s and don’ts, and it’s surprising that there are so many expectations. We need to have confidence to be articulate about our works’ intentions and messages portrayed. Self-promotion, for artists who can’t afford outside management, is the other necessary half of the job and is time-consuming, but vital.
Temporarily it seems distracting, taking precious time away from creating the art in order to write gallery proposals and exhibition entries, but since sharing and selling are the main goals, who knows more about the heart of the art better than the artist? Practice meeting deadlines, and familiarity with managing all the details means we are in control of our destiny as much as possible, helps focus clarity of purpose.
It takes diligence and fortitude to wear all the hats. We need to take advantage of every open door whether it shuts in our face or not, and a few cash awards to supplement sales doesn’t hurt a bit!