Best in Show (Traditional)
Beth Shapiro
Best in Show
(Digital & Photography)
Gareth Jones
Photography is Gareth’s artistic release. Beginning photography in 2015, Gareth bring his imagination, vision and inquisitive mind to visual life following a successful career as a forensic scientist.
Gareth’s art explores bold abstracts or unique perspectives created from his original photographs or digital art pieces.
Gareth wants to present moments of beauty, quiet joy or intrigue in balance with the need to draw attention to important issues. Everyone needs a break from today’s unending negative news and Gareth attempts to provide a breather from the stress of today’s world. He still brings difficult issues into his art – but is convinced that balance is the critical life component and as such, hopes his art will heal this disparate world through creative expressions, thoughtful moments and visual enjoyment or challenge.
Gareth photographs everything, big and small, that makes him stop, look, think, smile, or feel and then puts his unique take on it. Gareth’s images are that gift – a moment of balance, to find something in the image. His curiosity fuels the exploration of the world and the abstract, nature, urban and imaginative images that arise.
Gareth believes that whenever viewers purchase or comment on images, they connect with him. Often that connection is the breather he provides. He’s touching people with his images and that is his inspiration.
Gareth’s art can be found in private collections in Canada but have also sold around the world.
Gareth has been a medalist in various competitions including one of the world’s oldest photography competitions, the International Salon of Photography.
Please visit Gareth’s website if you are interested in seeing more of his work.
Best in Show
(3 Dimensional)
Moti Bazak
2nd Place (Traditional)
Melanie Ferguson
Melanie Ferguson’s distinctive artistic style reflects a lifelong commitment to freedom, wonder and beauty. She grew up in Utah’s spectacular Wasatch Mountains, exploring the mysteries of nature at her family’s lake cabin, where her free-spirited grandmother inspired her to live life on her own terms.
To pursue the adventurous life she craved, Melanie realized she’d have to leave her family roots and patriarchal community. At the University of Utah, she took art classes, studied French and dreamed of living and painting in Paris. She moved first to Los Angeles, but marriage and family responsibilities prevented her from pursuing art school and the career she’d envisioned.
Meanwhile, staying connected with art through classes and workshops proved a happy reprieve. When her two daughters left for college, Melanie relished her newfound freedom to travel, study and paint. She began to enjoy success; her plein air landscapes were selected for gallery shows and sold to collectors.
Then Melanie’s 30-year marriage—and her world—fell apart. Though she struggled at first to stay strong and find a new path forward, her decision to choose beauty over bitterness eventually led to a new passion—abstract art.
“I was no longer interested just in creating pretty pictures,” she says. “I became more interested in looking beneath the surface and sharing with others what I see.”
Today, Melanie is remarried and again living in Utah, with her husband, Greg, and their Golden retriever, Joey. Her paintings are featured in major shows and sought after by collectors. And she has no regrets about her journey.
“I’m thankful for my past,” she says. “When you go through a dark night, you live—and paint—more authentically. Now I can offer my audience a deeper, more meaningful way of looking at the world. My inspiration for my painting has been mainly through my passion for travel, I’ve been lucky enough to see and paint different parts of the world. I will forever be a student of the arts, experiencing the freedom, wonder and beauty I’ve always prized.”
Please visit Melanie’s website if you are interested in seeing more of her work.
2nd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Joe Calleri
Joe Calleri is an Australian-based, fine art and live performance photographer, and theatre reviewer. Joe’s intimate, exciting, colourful, dramatic images have been exhibited in Australia, in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, and Russia, and have been published in several books and many publications. Joe’s theatre publicity images have featured in: The Age, The Herald Sun, MCV and Real Time magazine.
For more information on Joe and his work, please visit his Instagram.
2nd Place
(3 Dimensional)
Fortunato
Fortunato, born in Venezuela, and lives in Houston, Texas temporally. She is an emerging contemporary artist who continually travels around the world absorbing the cultural essence and energies through of this riveting world in every place she stops. Her home and Art Atelier is permanently located in Aitkin, Minnesota, in the United States. From 2009 to 2012 she studied at the Art Institute of Houston, Texas – Interior Design, where she discovered her gift for art. Over the years she has continued her artistic passion in keep training, exploring and expanding her artistic knowledge in the use and understanding different techniques.
Fortunato most of the time when she travels to live in a country for more than one year, she enrolls and attends specialized art courses held by famous and international artists in many cities of the world and she explores de cultural life and experienced the interactions with local people of each city she stay continuously making new friends and learning from them and their lifestyles.
As an artist, she draws her inspiration from her global travels of life learning and experiences, feeding her appetite from the energies that surround her, feelings and life events that led her to express herself through art. Translating the cultural essences of each experience into the bold and colorful works of art displayed on her canvases and with-in her sculptures. Her artwork captures her inner most feelings and emotions transformed into the imagination of her eccentric expression in art but reveling her charismatic personality.
For more information about Fortuanto and her work, please visit her website.
3rd Place (Traditional)
Cynthia Correia
Biography
Cynthia Correia graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Art. She is an accomplished artist and designer. Her dimensional paintings reflect her graphic design background and her love of color. She desires to move the viewer both visually and emotionally. Her dimensional paintings give depth and texture to her work as well as a playful sense. At times her work is additive and at other times she invokes subtractive measures to draw you in.
After college she intended to become an art teacher but her path was diverted by an interest in home design and building. Cynthia was a Design / Build General Contractor working in the bay area for 16 years. She spent the next 30 years teaching Building Construction at Laney College in Oakland, Ca.
She has always loved form and function and has expressed her designs by making furniture and lighting. Cynthia took up painting in 2017 as a way to express her passion for color and design.
Artist Statement
Cynthia was influenced and inspired early on by Frank Stella and Josef Albers without really understanding the impact that color would have on the rest of her life. Nature has been the purist most vibrant color palette for her to choose from. While her paintings are linear, graphic and dimensional she attempts to move you outside the lines.
Using wood as her canvas allows her the ability to notch, add layers or subtract layers giving her paintings interest and depth. She is a bold colorist and a minimalist. She creates works of art to stimulate an emotional response within herself and the viewer.
To see more of Cynthia’s work please email her directly.
3rd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Jennifer McKinnon Richman
Using man-made urban models made of steel found while hiding in plain sight behind fences, in driveways, and littering parking lots – Jennifer creates photographic abstracts making the original models almost unrecognizable. In her collection City Jewels, she plays with reflections, water, and light outside the studio; while in the editing room, she adjusts saturation, highlights, and colors significantly to transform images of dumpsters into colorful abstracts. Images resemble pieces of jewelry ranging from delicate silver and gold chains to large, colorful chunky necklaces.
In City Jewels, Jennifer targeted freshly painted dumpsters in order to attain the best reflections. Once she identified freshly painted or newer dumpsters, she focused on areas where there was slight weathering in order to create depth and texture in her photographs. For months she carried around various props including a water bottle to create shine and depth in reflections, purses, sequin pillows, scarves, a lampshade, and more to create colorful reflections and shapes. Why dumpsters? Jennifer enjoys the thrill of the chase, driving around Atlanta and exploring new neighborhoods, and making the most of mundane errands; many of her “models” are found behind grocery stores and strip malls. But, it’s also the ability to create a piece of art from an object people pass every day but rarely SEE. With each collection, Jennifer aims to showcase dumpsters in a new light.
To see more of Jennifer’s work, please visit her website.
3rd Place
(3-Dimensional)
Jennifer Muse
Originally from Michigan, I have called Toledo my home for more than 20 years. I am a registered Architect and I have been practicing art all my life. I have studied art and design at Albion College, The University of Michigan, and The Toledo Museum of Art. I have worked in many mediums, but currently, my work is focused on acrylic painting, glass jewelry, and mixed media sculpture.
My architectural design background influences all of my work. What I love about architecture is how light and shadow affect every space, how the void is as powerful as the solid, how materials define the building as much as the people, and how the placement of a building into its landscape is both critical and tenuous.
When working with glass, I love how it flows and transforms under heat, how it manipulates light, how it changes in transparency, how it interacts and responds to other materials, and how its handling is both critical and tenuous.
No matter what the medium, I am always pursuing and intrigued by texture. I find textures inspiring, whether man-made, formed in nature, or created by a chemical reaction. My work explores all aspects of texture.
Inspired by the properties of glass, and designing through the lens of an architect, I always strive for a new reaction, a new texture, a new outcome.
To see more of Jennifer’s work, please visit her website.
4th Place (Traditional)
Robert Hunter
Robert Hunter is a Northwest artist and teacher who has been creating Abstract Expressionist compositions that reflect his love for color and autobiographical themes. His choice of materials for mixed media pieces includes Japanese and exotic papers, charcoal, acrylics, acrylic gels, pastel pencils, and found objects. Multiple layers of materials are incorporated to achieve depth and add to a 3d effect.
The inspiration for Hunter’s original Art is derived from daily rituals, family relationships, some political and social themes, and the beauty and abundance of Nature. His studies of the beautiful Puget Sound bay in front of his home continues to be an active source for placement within his work.
The aesthetic appeal of Hunter’s paintings and collage is wide ranging, as he has had work in the Tacoma Art Museum, as well as many private collections throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and Mexico.
To see more of Robert’s work, please visit email him directly.
4th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Brandie Ferguson
My approach to photography is based on my belief in the beauty and majestic aspect of nature that God created. I want my photographs to give the feeling of wonder and mystery that are rarely seen in daily life. I use photography as a means to capture the things people look at but don’t really see. My goal is to make my photographs draw viewers in and make them think about what I have captured. It takes the vision and insight of the artist to bring out the grandeur, weather great or small, of what is seen through the lens. I create my photographs to express my interpretation of the world around me, whether it be a mountain range in Montana or the tiny flowers on the side of the road in Louisiana.
To see more of Brandie’s work, please visit her website.
4th Place
(3-Dimensional)
Karen Ford
Born and raised in Indiana, Karen’s art is in the 3-dimensional category. Her art represents her love of nature and her desire to depict its beauty in creative ways.
Karen is a wife of 48 years, a mother of two children and grandmother of three boys. She has worked a variety of jobs and is enjoying having time to pursue her love of nature in her retirement.
For her current creation, in the “Colorful Abstractions” competition, Karen painted metallic paint on the insides of clear plastic ornament balls. The horizontal lines inside the round spheres create confined movement as the colors either streak across or explode from the edges of the spheres. Because the paint is on the inside the spheres can be removed from their hangers, held up to the light, rolled in your hands and examined more closely.
Karen hopes that “Sunrise/Sunset” inspires you to look to the morning and evening skies and marvel at the perfection of nature.
To learn more about Karen and her work, please email her directly.
5th Place (Traditional)
Mia Schulte
Artist Statement
My art is a reflection of my thoughts and experiences. I often think about a painting long before the image materializes. Introspection is what drives my work.
I work on the floor so that I can have a 360 degree view and feel closer to the work. I apply multiple layers combining the various mediums such as acrylic, ink, pastel, etc. The painting evolves with each new layer as I proceed to clarify the message/feeling that I want to express.
I strive to represent observations about the complexities of daily life using natural forms to express my thoughts. The themes of time, change, movement, transformation, are ever present in my work. It is the hidden realities that fascinate me.
Artist Biography
Mia Schulte was born in Turkey and grew up in a family that traveled and lived in many countries, in Europe and the Middle East. Her careers have ranged from corporate work in Washington, D.C. to Art Teacher to full time artist. She moved to Washington State 16 years ago, and currently resides in Olympia, Washington. Inspired by the natural beauty of the state, she incorporates the beauty of natural forms in her abstract compositions.
Her art has been shown in exhibitions throughout the state since 2007. She was selected as one of the featured artists for an exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College entitled: “Drawn to Abstraction: Four Artists, Four Visions”. Her work has been shown in the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle Design Center, Bellevue Art Museum, Tacoma Community College Gallery as well as galleries and exhibitions in Seattle, Bellingham, Edmonds, Bellevue, Yakama and other cities throughout the state and in Oregon (Coos Art Museum and Cannon Beach). She was selected to be in a show at the Prince Street Gallery in New York City. She is a member of Women Painters of Washington.
To see more of Mia’s work, please visit her 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 Art League in Alexandria, Virginia, Curve Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland, Baumbach Gallery in Palm Springs, California, Heaven Art Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Orenda Gallery in Reno, Nevada. She was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2019 International Photography Awards, IPA. 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 featured 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 as a photographer and digital artist in August 2018.
To see more of Barbara’s work, please visit her website.
5th Place
(3-Dimensional)
Regina Hays
Los Angeles and Santa Fe based artist Regina Hays is a new and upcoming artist that doesn’t just adhere to your standard canvas pallet. Her passion for finding unique canvas alternatives is shown by using antique European troughs, metal trays and primitive wooden pieces as an unusual form of expression.
While leaving the corporate world for family life, Regina found art to help express her inner creativity. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and 3 boys.
To learn more about Regina and her work, please email her directly.