Daniella Werneck – “Amo de Mio Viva” – 2nd Place

My painting was inspired by my teenage years. Last Christmas I went to Brazil to visit my mother, and I was delighted with the sound of birds especially at dawn. I came back thinking a lot about it and remembering the happy and difficult times I lived there. Consequently, I remembered the platonic loves I lived and suffered during most of my adolescence. This painting is about that, about love and what we are capable of doing for it. The apple is the fruit of sin, the arrow came from the Cupid, the ribbon on her arm is childish witchcraft very common in my culture to find love, and the message on the tree means Love Of My Life, it is in Esperanto, a language invented in the 19th century with the purpose of being universal and which has been gaining adepts recently, and I use it (Esperanto) to not be linked to any culture to show that love is free and for all of us.

Jackie Liddell - “Eryie” – 3rd Place

The idea for my painting began when I found a perfect bird nest that had fallen from one of my trees during a storm. I brought it into my studio and. two things came to me: creating a moving painting using symbolism with texture and watercolor. It was fun and challenging to figure out what methods and techniques to use. My drawing of the nest reminded me of the Crown of Thorns, and the wooden tree from which it fell became a Crucifix which organized the composition. I placed the egg in the nest to represent "Rebirth".

Irene Sheytman – “Avignon” – Director’s Award

When I transfer the sketch from my travel sketchbook into actual painting, I would like to convey what this particular small black-and-white sketching meant to me; impression, idea, feeling of the time and place, season and light. All of it without loosing the energy of quick drawing, avoiding overworking. Hope I achieved it at least partially in the artwork presented.

Rona Lesser – “Two Together” – Merchant’s Award

My piece started because of Co-vid. I usually go to Archway Gallery and WAS-H for figure drawing and painting at least 2 times a month. Since those were cancelled because of Co-vid one day I decided to print out old photos of models and try using them for inspiration. I played with semi-blind contour and placement drawing with watercolor pencils and then added color to the shapes as well as extra shapes to finish the composition. I am continuing the practice now to produce a series of paintings.

Larry Spitzberg – No Need for Lemonade” – Merchant’s Award

A lot of my paintings, and I bet that i am not alone here, start with a boring painting that I had put away. I looked at this one again and decided to splash color all over it and lo and behold it popped!! Sometimes for me using my brain on the first part and my heart in the second part works!