| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Afternoon in Ogunquit by Katie Swatland
14 x 18 Oil
Judge's Comments: I like this painting in every way: technically, esthetically and even for its narrative quality. Squint and look at the uneven division of lights and darks. The strong, beautiful diagonal of darks dances gracefully through the painting doing an impeccable job of further describing and enhancing the light areas. The fisherman is in the perfect spot and his diagonal pose repeats rhythms in the rocks. His red tie is just cheating. It is so beautifully placed. The abandoned fishing gear and the book invite the viewer to make up their own story. I could write a book longer than the one he is reading about this painting.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Book of Poems by Dan Beck
12" x 12" Oil
Judge's Comments: Even if this painting were not an exquisitely rendered model reading a book, I would still enjoy it. The abstract spaces are wonderfully handled. There is just enough content in these spaces to tantalize the viewer without holding the attention too long. The eye is continually gently returned to the model and we are invited to follow her gaze to the book. The brushwork is delicious. The restrained palette is a delight. This painting is poetry indeed.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Fresh Snow by Larisa Aukon
12 x 16 Oil
Judge's Comments: Fresh Snow has an innocence and charm that is appealing and inviting. The execution is courageous and the brushwork is energetic. The division of space is interesting. The larger shapes, the yellow house and large mass of snow in the foreground, hold the eye, while the sprinkling of small red shapes tantalize and invite the viewer to move around the canvas.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
kids and surf by Robert Lemler
24" x 30" Oil
Judge's Comments: This artist took on a subject that has been done so often that it is almost worn out. And then, he pulled it off in such a fresh way, proving that originality can be injected into any subject when the artist is willing to take a risk and develop a personal and individual approach. The figures are rendered in such a way that the viewer senses the artist’s knowledge of the anatomy, but is not overwhelmed by it. Life, animation and expression are all there. Beautiful composition. Subtle, completely integrated palette. Impressive execution. Wonderful painting.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Snowing by Kim Muller-Thym
16 x 20 Oil
Judge's Comments: This artist has taken a limited palette to the very limits of beauty. So much strength has been achieved in such a subtle way. The foreground invites us in and then zigzags us back toward the soft aerial perspective of the distance. The diagonals and verticals are in beautiful balance. Strong emotion, beautiful execution.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Ready! by C. E. Norton
24 x 18 Oil
Judge's Comments: If someone described this painting to me in words: cute dog with tongue licking nose, poised over a red ball, red flags would go up immediately. I would be tempted to scream,” Danger, danger, saccharine alert level high.” But I can’t manage to be bothered by any of that here. This painting is a delight on many levels. It is cute. There’s no getting around that. But the artist’s execution of the subject, his exuberant brushwork, his brave unapologetic composition has taken it to a level of pure joy.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Lower Kern River Rapids by Victor Schiro
18" x 24" Oil
Judge's Comments: Here is a representational painting that is has a strong abstract quality. Not only is the grand pattern of the space impressive, but also, the small shapes within the grand pattern relate beautifully. The subtle palette is the perfect choice and the brushwork is bold, giving the rocks and boulders the feeling of real strength.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Yellow Sun by Michael Situ
24 x 30 Oil
Judge's Comments: Simple. Elegant. Compelling. This painting should be in a textbook about color relationships. It would be in the chapter, “How to balance just the right amount of cool against predominant warm.” It would be repeated in the chapter,” Balance small shapes against large.” At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much subject matter in this painting. But, consider the scale. It is 24” x 30”. At that scale, you could get lost in the amazing number of subtle colors in the sky. These colors repeat and repeat and repeat in all the foreground forms. Getting lost in this painting would be a joy.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Dreaming The Open Sea by Elizabeth Pollie
20 x 16 Oil
Judge's Comments: This is a lovely painting, restrained in every way. The palette is red, yellow, and blue, but all such beautiful, subtle versions of the primaries. The composition is bravely straightforward, everything placed squarely to the picture plane until the eye reaches the rescue of the soft curve of the feather. As sails and feathers catch the wind, this painting really catches the eye.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Follow Me by Tibor Nagy
10 x 16 Oil
Judge's Comments: This painting has an extremely limited range of colors. There isn’t much subject. There is little literal rendering. Yet, with all these limitations, the artist has evoked strong emotion and invited the viewer to come into the painting and stay a while. The simple color world attracted me at first. The exquisite brushwork held my attention. But it was the mood that won me over. Beautiful.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Rock & Wave by Ebrahim Amin
11 x 14 Oil
Judge's Comments: This painting has a pleasing balance of positive and negative spaces. I particularly like the transmitted light seen through the wave. The vigorous brushwork gives the painting great vitality. A classic.
|
| | Finalist
Award Sponsor: Raymar Art
Judge: Joe Anna Arnett
Fish on Ice by Elaine Hahn
16 x 20 Oil
Judge's Comments: The artist has conceived an interesting composition that draws the eye into the painting with the dark foreground fish, then around the mid ground with patterns of fish and ice and stops the eye with the fully foreshortened fish in the farther plane. The drawing is solid. The colors are subtle and engaging. I don’t even like fish, but I like this painting.
|
| | | | | | |
