Best in Show (Traditional)
James Griffin
Best in Show
(Digital & Photography)
Pavlos Evangelidis
Best in Show
(3 Dimensional)
Diana Fernández
2nd Place (Traditional)
Michael Kraniski
Michael is best known for his “Skyscape” paintings, and for his use of a strong color palette. Michael feels that the most interesting element in a landscape painting is the sky. A landscape is static, and of little interest until the sky acts upon it. The sky sets the mood. It controls the color and light of the landscape, and provides a sense of movement to the painting. His paintings are representational, in all paintings the atmosphere or mood is most important.
The inspiration for Michael’s paintings developed from watching the constantly changing skies, and his love for the landscapes. He looks for situations that are unique to a particular place and weather conditions at the time, and tries to capture the mood of the moment.
After graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art, one the nation’s leading art and design institutes, Michael perused a successful design career, winning numerous awards in both the U.S., and Europe, he has returned to my original passion – the fine arts.
To see more of Michael’s work please visit his website.
2nd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Marcia Berg Haskell
As an artist, Marcia uses a number of starting points. Her drawings may be used as a starting point for her paintings or may be scanned into the computer and manipulated into computer art. Her photography may be post-processed for color and density, or she may manipulate them into her ‘Fractured Fotos’ where no aspect of the original is sacred. Another starting point for her art is paint on paper or canvasette. Her original paintings were layered acrylic paint to create non-representation scenes.
Marcia’s style of creating artwork is ever-changing, as a former scientist she loved to experiment and that desire has carried into her artwork. She prefers trying new techniques and new materials rather than continuing to work with whose she has mastered. With the exception of her photography, her work tends to be abstract and is designed to present the viewer with a representation of feelings or emotions. Today she adds elements such as rhinestones, wire, glitter and/or metallic inks to many of her pieces, feeling these create a stronger viewer experience. Marcia tends to create series in her artwork. In the later part of 2018, she began a series based upon a Yupo base, using Pearlescent paints, various inks and pigments and an assortment of objects. This series she entitled ‘.. The World’ ie. ‘Dreaming the World’, ‘Seeing the World’, ‘Feeling the World’ with more to come.
One of her previous series was a combination of photographs and computer filters. It was entitled ‘We All Wear Masks Don’t We?’ Starting with a photograph of a person, or group, Marcia used an assortment of computer filters followed by glitter and metallic pens to strengthen or modify the effects.she wanted.
Marcia loves nature and has many photographs of flowers and leaves. She is always looking for new ways to capture the essence of the plants and bushes around her. Similarly, she enjoys photographing trees and has a series of ‘Tree Faces’, where the branches, bark, sun and shadows create the shapes of the faces. No physical object, from nature or manmade is outside the range of her camera.
Whatever the material Marcia’s goal is to reflect her unique vision of the world and all it’s possibilities.
To see more of Marcia’s work, please visit her website.
2nd Place
(3 Dimensional)
Andrea Shearing
Andrea was born in UK but raised in Switzerland until she was 16 when her family moved to Sussex. Andrea did her Foundation Course at Eastbourne School of Art before studying both painting and sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art. After 25 years in Scotland she moved to Dorset as Head of Natural History Illustration and went on to Cambridge as Head of Illustration.
Andrea has been inspired by nature since childhood and although her work is detailed she is not simply a representational artist. Her mission explores the emotional symbolism of her subject matter. She is currently working on sea paintings in which the movement of the ocean waves express the rhythm of life, the force and strength of nature. Its turbulence and calm reflect her inner world. Following the ebb and flow of froth on the surface helps her to read the moods of the deeper waters. Sheis interested in exploring the fluidity of water against the firm resistance of hard rock. Andrea’s most recent work; ‘Falling Water’ combines the energy from the fountain of happiness and light with the deep inner sadness from the darker side of night. At art college students were taught to observe and respond, now Andrea spends hours simply watching and meditating in order to gain a deeper understanding of her subject matter. She makes drawings on location which are then interpreted into paintings in the studio.
Andrea’s mission explores the emotional symbolism of her subject matter. She is currently working on sea and rock paintings in which the movement of the ocean waves express the rhythm of life, the force and strength of nature. Its turbulence and calm reflect our inner world. She is interested in exploring the fluidity of water against the firm resistance of hard rock. The Waterfall series combines the energy from the fountain of happiness and light with the deep inner sadness from the darker side of night.
Andrea has recently won an International Competition for a solo exhibition in Santagio de Compestella, Spain. She exhibits in London, New York and Europe.
To see more of Andrea’s work, please visit her website.
3rd Place (Traditional)
Fay Biegun
STATEMENT
My art has always been an expression of how I fit into the world. I often express a hopeful sentiment wherein I use archetypes to show how there are similarities between all cultures and one only has to look beyond the outer appearance of a story or myth to see that the underlying meanings are a universal one.
I use a variety of styles, rather than concentrating on one, to best express the changes and fluctuations in my life and develop the tone I need to manifest these. I will paint a naturalistic subject for a while and then something will happen in my life and I will feel the need to explore another topic. It is often about political analysis or self- analysis or I can be motivated by the simple joy of creating.
Tropical Sky is a scenic view from a series of paintings inspired from an adventure through the Florida Everglades. On a flatboat moving through the clumps of grassy growth one can easily lose any sense of direction. My husband and I found ourselves way beyond the boundaries where we were allowed to go, lost in the everglades, feeling like we were being followed by a set of alligator eyes. As the sun was setting, we saw a glint of metal on the horizon. Was it our imagination, or a boat, or a buoy? We followed the small light and fortunately it was a buoy leading us to the dock where we initially set off. The sky was our final view of the end of our journey.
BIO
A solitary child, Fay Biegun was very much a loner who used her time escaping into her own world and her work. She developed her imagination and her artistic skills at a very early age.
Family members were involved in the arts and taught her the value of aesthetic and technical excellence and the importance of persistence and hard work.
Biegun received her BFA in painting and graphic art from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She also studied sculpture under Jacques Lipchitz in Pietrasanta,Italy, and has a degree from Parsons School of Design, in New York City, in fashion design. Following her graduation from Parsons, she worked on Seventh Avenue in New York City at Anne Klein Studio and other major fashion houses as a clothing designer and designer of home furnishings.
The fluctuations in her life caused by major changes are reflected in a variety of expression in her fine art work. At various times she has been influenced by artists such as Alice Neel, David Hockney, Al Held, assume vivid astro focus, and readings in anthropology and myth, literature, fashion, and the cinema.
Biegun is a member of the National Association of Women Artists, the Artist’s Collaborative of Hyde Park, the Woodstock Artists Association.
To see more of Fay’s work please visit her website.
3rd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Margaret King
From My Eyes to Yours! I am a photographer who found the art of picture-taking late in life as a means of expressing the beauty of the natural world. Through my lens, I capture the portraits, expressions, and styles of animals who live in my backyard and in other natural habitats as well as the beauty of flowers and landscapes in my neighborhood and beyond. Capturing the lives and stories of animals and the habitats in which they live personalize the natural occurrences in our daily lives. Seeing the expressions and changes over time expands our understanding of the connectedness we share. I create photographs using a variety of digital processes, astute observation, and reflective deliberation in an attempt to create what I saw and envisioned as I took the photograph, but you the looker is the interpreter.
To see more of Margaret’s work, please visit her website.
4th Place (Traditional)
Douglas Geldart
Doug is a self-taught painter in watercolour and oil mediums, with a wide range of subject matter. Trained as an architect, he has extensively travelled the world to photograph, sketch and plein-air paint. He strives to capture the unique aspect of a morning or evening light in order to convey a mood or sentiment.
For this sky painting, the view is upriver from his island cottage on the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River. He has photographed both morning and evening skies, often getting unique images. He used references from multiple photographs and began studies in watercolour to identify features and composition. The final oil painting is 72” wide x 36” high, and was developed over a period of 8 months, during which, the sky was repainted 4 times in part or in whole in order to achieve the atmospheric balance and match the calm of the rhythmic waves.
Rembrandt, Edwin Hopper, and Philip Craig are inspirations for their painting style and handling of light. Doug has been juried into over 20 local, national and international exhibitions.
To see more of Doug’s work, please visit his website.
4th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Paul Collins
Paul Collins lives and works in Ringwood, Hampshire in the UK and is by profession an engineering design draughtsman. In his spare time he has a passionate interest in photography and was drawn to this creative pastime as a means of expression at an early age, buying his first camera, a Kodak Brownie 127 from saved pocket money.
It was during his late teens that he studied various genres of photography eventually deciding to concentrate on shooting inland and coastal landscapes which over the years he has combined with his love of walking and climbing within the UK.
Paul always finds the process of taking a photograph an exciting one and still uses film as well as digital and considers being in the right place at the right time as well as a certain amount of luck playing a part in capturing a great landscape. He also likes to photograph the landscape in the most natural way possible preferring an accurate representation of the subject and therefore keeps any post production work to a minimum. He produces his work in both black & white and colour depending on the subject and is always happier when looking for a potential shot to capture a smaller and more intimate part of the landscape than an extensive panorama.
His inspiration is gained from the work of other landscape photographers; Ansel Adams being one of his greatest influences. Over the years Paul has had work published in photographic magazines and has gained awards at camera clubs, in magazine photo contests and more recently in juried art exhibitions. He feels that photography is a creative pursuit that will always remain exciting because there is always something new to be learnt.
To see more of Paul’s work, please email him directly.
5th Place (Traditional)
Stephen Estrada
Many of Stephen Estrada’s paintings depict the waters, skies and landscapes of the East and West coast, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. They are reminders to him of our place in nature, its beauty and its power to change our lives in an instant.
Mr. Estrada continues to work on a life long project entitled, Latitude 37, an exploration of exact points along the 37th parallel across the United States from the Pacific shore at Half Moon Bay to coastal Virginia.
The process of painting begins with collecting source materials, photographing, sketching and surfing at many of the places he finds himself along the coast. These references serve as a starting point as his paintings come to fruition, break away, and merge with collective memories and universal experiences of land sea and sky.
The goal of Mr. Estrada’s work is for the viewer to experience nature and feel its presence by entering into the painting as if stepping into a line of powerful surf: with all one’s senses, aware of place and time, the physicality of the environment, movement and light that reveal the underlying currents and forces. These paintings evoke our enduring connection to the environment and our responsibility to preserve its legacy for future generations.
To see more of Stephen’s work, please visit his website.
5th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Barbara Mierau-Klein
Barbara Mierau-Klein is a digital artist recognized for her multi-layered, imaginative and colorful fine art images. A native of Germany, Barbara lives in the Washington, D.C. area but often travels the world as a passionate landscape and nature photographer since her teenage years.
Barbara discovered digital art several years ago and became so fascinated that it turned into a full-time pursuit. Much of Barbara’s work is highly stylized and focuses on beautiful moments and evocative moods across a wide range of subjects. The inspiration for her images comes from many sources, often her own nature photography, but also books, song lyrics, movies, and works of other artists, old masters as well as contemporary digital artists.
Barbara’s work has been exhibited at the Baumbach Gallery, Palm Springs, California, Heaven Art Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Orenda Gallery in Reno, Nevada. She has had thirteen top-ten placements in online juried art competitions at the Light Space Time Art Gallery and Fusion Art Gallery over the past year and was features in an Artist Showcase at Light Space Time Art Gallery in November 2018. Her work has also appeared regularly in Living the Photo Artistic Life Magazine and Fine Eye Magazine with a feature article on her work in August 2018.
With her digital art creations Barbara seeks to impart a sense of wonder and invite the viewer to step into a different reality for a brief moment.
To see more of Barbara’s work, please visit her website.