Each month, the winners are asked to share a few words about their experiences associated with their paintings. Below, we present what they shared.

First Place – Fall at the Overlook by Fred Kingwill

For years one of my favorite things to tell my students and myself is:  ”Paint those things that you love or that you would like to love”.  My painting, Teton Fall, met that criterion. I have spent over 40 years in the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.  I have a serious love affair with the area and the wildlife.  The painting was done on a D’Arches watercolor block, 7.9 x 7.9 inches, cold press, 140 lbs. The scene is the Snake River Overlook where my wife and I got married on 4 feet of snow. I spent about 30 minutes painting it and a lifetime learning how to paint it (something I am still trying to do!).  I probably have painted these particular scenes in all times of year, weather, colors, etc. 50 times. I suspect I will keep doing it! 

Second Place – Voyager Reflections – Jackie Liddell

Because I have always lived close to the gulf, I marvel at the way water looks with the changes  in seasons, atmosphere, and tides.  The most challenging days are the clear days with clam water and reflections.  I enjoy the geometric shapes and lines created by the old shrimp boats that work in the bays around us.  This painting was sketched in plein air and painted back in my studio.  I was thrilled that our juror liked it.

Third Place – Awning and Harbor – Larry Spitzberg

My painting awning and harbor was from a pretty photo that i took of the picturesque harbor at Honfleur, France.  After 3 cups of coffee, I attacked the paper, as I tend to do rather than just paint it, and my hands made a different picture than the photo. My impatient nature and love of colors makes it hard anyway to just copy the photo. I leave all my energy on the paper!

Honorable Mention – Babson Farm Quarry by Charles Browne

Babson Farm Quarry is my second attempt at a quarry painting.  Babson is on Halibut Point in Rockport, Massachusetts, and is one of numerous local granite quarries which were abandoned after the industry faded in the early 20th century.  The tower in the painting is one of several observation towers along the east coast which were built to keep a look-out for German U-Boats during WWII. The quarries are a frequent subject for local artists who inspired me to make my own interpretation.  

Honorable Mention – Quiet Celebration by Pat Waughtal

Quiet Celebration has proven to be a successful attempt at painting abstracts in an intuitive manner.  I was introduced to this joyful approach in one of Susan Giannantonio’s classes last year.  You have no plan.  You keep applying paint, covering up, sanding back, applying more paint until what the painting wants to be begins to emerge. Then you help it along. It is a mysterious process, but a process that I am enjoying.