3rd Annual WaterscapesArt Exhibition Monthly Winning Artists

The top five artists in each category were given awards in the 3rd Annual Waterscapes international online art exhibition. Below are the biographies and/or artist’s statements along with the artist’s websites or emails.

Please visit the 3rd Waterscapes Exhibition Page and contact the artists directly for purchase inquiries or to see more of their work.

Congratulations again to all the winners and thank you for sharing your talent with us.

Best in Show (Traditional)
Mark Kaufman

Some say art is a lie, a mere illusion of space in a two dimensional world. Some say reality is an illusion, merely perceptual experience. Both are wrong. Our humanity grants us only partial access to the truth. That art and experience and science are incompatible-somehow exclusive of each other is the real illusion. What changes between them is the meaning and the way truth can be revealed. Much of my truth emerges from being bipolar. What makes my work unique is that the figures are explorations of mood and emotion rather than landscapes. Often they have an element of the odd or troubling. The figures are exposed and self contained and unavailable all at the same time. I draw heavily on my lifetime experience with Bipolar disorder seeking to express its effusive, if grandiose at times, unconstrained joy; its terrifying and fractured mania and its deep depression. I am now a signature member of the Philadelphia and Baltimore and Delaware Watercolor societies. That is a delightful honor based on juried exhibition of my work in their international shows. I now live in Wilmington, Delaware with my wife of 48 years and my cat-named Cat.

Please visit Mark’s website if you are interested in purchasing this award winning piece or to see more of his work.

 

Best in Show
(Digital & Photography)
Ken Murphy

Ken Murphy is Mississippi based photographer. He has been photographing and documenting the beauty of his home along the Mississippi Gulf Coast since graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1986.

He has also published 4 high quality photographic coffee table books about Mississippi.

Please visit Ken’s website if you would like to purchase this award winning piece or to see more of his work.

 

Best in Show
(3-Dimensional)
Candace Liddy

Candace Liddy is a life long sculptor specializing in animals. Her most accomplished work is in cast bronze, many of them one of a kind pieces incorporating stone and other natural substances. She is a full member of the AAEA. She teaches sculpting through clinics and seminars at the Kentucky Horse Park, in her home studio and by commission. Her sculptures have been awarded many ‘Best of Show” titles and she continues to show at major Art venues, Trade shows and Horse Expos all year.

Please visit Candace’s website to see more of her work.

 

2nd Place (Traditional)
Jackson Lee

I was born in and grew up in Hong Kong. This is my home with all my family, friends and memories which are deeply relevant and integral to my identity. To reciprocate the love, care and support that this community has provided for me, I would like to preserve the legacy of Hong Kong to show its vital spirit through my paintings, e.g. “Mutual Help”, “Forever Guardian”, “Striving for excellence”, etc.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Jackson’s work please visit his website.

 

2nd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Esther Byrt

Esther fell in love with art as soon as she was able to hold a crayon. As a child she whiled away many hours colouring or trying to draw comic book characters. She experimented with sketching in various mediums and later ventured into oil, acrylic and watercolour painting. Ah, but when she discovered digital art she finally found the niche she loves. Now she has the means to use her passion for photography and art together and the techniques to combine them into her vision.

Esther draws inspiration from everything around her. She is constantly searching the landscape for a great picture and staring at strangers thinking they would make a great model. She also loves to read science fiction and fantasy and finds many imagined scenes spark her creativity.

To see more of Esther’s work please visit her website.

 

2nd Place
(3-Dimensional)
Todd McAneeley

I started carving in 2013. All my carvings are nature related because I love it so much. Have had my art in galleries on Vancouver Island such as The Cowichan Performing Arts Lobby, Imagine That, and The Chemainus Theatre. I use both grinders and hand tools such as carving chisels and knives. Can’t do details with an electric grinder. I make my wood art from scrap wood that would be use for firewood. I collect scrap wood because I would rather have it used in a more environmentally friendly matter.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Todd’s work please visit his website.

 

3rd Place (Traditional)
Leah Dockrill

These paintings were inspired by the rocky shores of the west coast of Newfoundland, Canada, overlooking the Gulf of St.Lawrence. it was the time of year when there were few tourists, the air was cold and crisp and full of the salty tang of the sea. The only sound: waves lapping. Later, in my studio, a thousand miles away, I attempted to capture on my canvases the serenity I felt as I stood on the shore with my camera. I have been a visual artist for over thirty years. The natural world continues to be my muse continually presenting challenges and opportunities for creativity. My areas of art practice are painting, digital art, and collage. I have been an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists since 2000, and my work has been exhibited across Canada, as well as in Colorado, New Jersey, and New York state.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Leah’s work please visit her website.

 

3rd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Joel Porterfield

Joel is an amateur photography from Chicago, IL. His interest in photography started by documenting his travels in Europe, but it was Chicago where he really started to view it from an artistic viewpoint. Joel’s main focus is urban and nature photography, often looking to combine the two in his images. His favorite subject is Lake Michigan, which provides endless changes season by season and day by day. He especially enjoys the otherworldly views that it provides during the bitter cold in winter. Through his work, Joel tries to show a different side of the city than what most people see daily. He believes that amazing nature can be found without having to travel to the wilderness.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Joel’s work, please visit his website.

 

3rd Place
(3-Dimensional)
Carole Hatcher

Collected treasure assemblage sculpture captures memories, interprets and tells a story through gathered collections. The life and struggle for survival of the Salton Sea is represented by fluffy white clouds, blue sky, rays of sun, birds and life that meets the edge of the waters that were once a healthy blue-green. Continuing into the depth of the sea, waters are polluting and rotting, barely able to sustain the life of an ecosystem. Talpia fish are struggling for survival, as is the sea itself. As the sea is shrinking “Concretions” or Dinosaur Eggs” can be found in the dried bed of cementation. Feathers, beads, string fibers, paint stir sticks, sparkle, wire, and prehistoric concretions from the Salton Sea, hanging on a discarded quilt holder tell the story.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Carole’s work, please email her directly.

 

4th Place (Traditional)
Hunter Jay

In his work, Hunter Jay reveals the wonder of the hidden world around us. He focuses on the geometry of the composition, the way the elements are arranged on the canvas. Sometimes, he finds that this becomes more important than the actual subject matter. As an emotionalist painter, he is intrigued by mystery. The subject matter varies, but he invites the viewer to interpret a hidden element, which can be literal or thematic. Hunter Jay’s paintings are created with multiple layers of transparent glazes. Each layer affects the next, creating an arresting depth of field. Largely self taught as a fine artist, Hunter Jay has an innate sense of composition that aligns with his background in graphic design, contributing to the overall illustrative impact of his work.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Hunter’s work, please visit his website.

 

4th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Tim Shields

Tim Shields is a landscape photographer, explorer, hiker and mountain trekker from White Rock, Canada. He specializes in taking hard-to-get-to landscape photos in high resolution panoramic formats. Tim always tries to take his photos using the principles of storytelling in his compositions. He uses a Nikon D850 camera but believes that the best camera is the one you have with you.

To see more of Tim’s work, please visit his website.

 

5th Place (Traditional)
Ibolya Taligas

ARTIST STATEMENT (SHORT VERSION)

Ibolya’s inspiration come from nature. She seeks out all the beautiful things that fascinates her in our world. Her work ranges from landscapes to portraits and are characterised by strong, bright colours which lends a dreamy quality to her work. She also like to use engaging textures. All these qualities fill the viewer with a sense of freedom and well-being. With her art she aim to influence people in a positive way. She uses it as a tool to educate and encourage everyone to preserve our environment as best as possible. Ibolya uses her materials spontaneously and instinctively. Her never-ending experiments are often unplanned as she continue searching for new ways to showcase the beauty of our ever-transforming world.

ARTIST BIO 2018

Ibolya Taligas was born in Budapest, Hungary. After completing her A levels in her home town she moved to the UK where she continued her studies. She studied Illustration in London and completed numerous other art-related courses. It was many years later that she took up watercolour painting, in which she is self-taught and it is now her primary medium. Since then she has developed a spontaneous and distinctive technique. Ibolya often paints en plein air and also prefers painting portraits from life. She taught at workshops in London since 2014. As well as working as a fine artist, Ibolya organises painting holidays to European destinations where she teaches watercolour painting techniques through demonstrations. She is now dividing her time painting and running her painting holiday business called Painting Getaways. Many of her paintings are in private collections in the UK, USA and in Hungary, many of which were showcased in hotels, restaurants, cafes. They are also displayed and sold at art websites worldwide.

To purchase this award winning piece or to see more of Ibolya’s work, please visit her website.

 

5th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Sheri Emerson

Sheri has been a photographer her entire life, from a child snapping pictures with her 110 camera, to her first SLR, and finally into the digital world. She also has been an artist her entire life, winning her first art competition at the grand old age of five. In the past few years, she has intensively studied both Photoshop and Lightroom to learn how to enhance her photography and turn it into digital art. She has been published in “Living the Photo Artistic Life” magazine, “Photoshop Creative UK” magazine, “Conceptual Images” magazine, “Fine Eye Magazine” for fine art photography, and “A5 Magazine”.

She received the “Best in Show” award for “All Weather of the Seasons” and the “Judges Choice” award for “All Animals” in Contemporary Art Gallery Online competitions, placed second in the SINWP “Creatures Great and Small” competition, and is also a seven-time top ten overall winner in the Light, Space and Time challenges, as well as winning a Best in Show at FusionArt. Her work has been shown at the Pennsylvania Center for Photography, Orenda Gallery in Lake Tahoe, and Heaven Art Gallery in Scottsdale, and the Blank Wall Gallery in Athens, Greece. Sheri splits her time between Arizona and Labrador, Canada, and is dedicating herself to pushing her photography and digital art even further. Her work is currently being sold on the curated ArtBoja website, and can be seen at www.sheriemersonphotography.com.