"I Will Eat You," by Judy Guenther, is currently on view in the "Feast!" November 2020 Themed Exhibition.
Welcome to Artful Weekend, our guide for enjoying area art events in person or at home.
This weekend: Feast! and Fairy Tails… at the League; Antonia Ramos Miguel’s new abstracts; and brilliant works by DC colorist Howard Mehring.
November Exhibitions at The Art League
Feast!
“Cake Reflected” by Mary Beth Gaiarin is one of several Honorable Mention Award winners in “Feast!”
From festive and fanciful spreads to substantive staples, food is the focus of Feast!, the November 2020 group exhibition at The Art League Gallery. It is on view through Monday, November 30. You can also view and shop the show online.
“Feast!” Noveember 2020 Exhibition juror Anki King (Photo: Jason Bockli)
Painter, sculptor, November juror Anki King was impressed with the quality of work submitted for Feast!. “There were reasons to include absolutely ever submission in the show, but that’s not how curating works,” she told us. Read about her approach to art , and her observations about her prize-winning selections in this month’s Juror Profile.
Fairy Tails, Feathers, & Scales
“Anya in Color”
With whimsy and wit, charm and charisma, printmaker Veronica Barker-Barzel brings to life creatures from beloved stories and new imaginings. Influenced by fairy tales, folklore, and mythology from around the world, her solo exhibit features magical beings with fins, fangs, fur, and everything in between. Fairy Tails, Feathers, and Scalesis on view in the Gallery through December 6. In this video short, Veronica talks about printmaking and her solo show.
Antonia Ramos Miguel: The Break of Rules
“Still Life with Glass Ball,” oil on canvas, by Antonia Ramis Miguel
Antonia Ramis Miguel returns to Watergate Gallery continuing her approach to Constructivist art which combines the strength of structured line along with color and abstraction to create a dramatic visual effect that arranges the parts of a subject into a whole. The influence of her native Spain, particularly the use of saturated color, is however still visible in her work; on view through November 30 at the Watergate Gallery, 2552 Virginia Avenue, NW
Howard Mehring: Brilliance
“Brilliance,” by Howard Mehring, c.1957, magna on canvas
Washington Howard Mehring created a distinctive loose, gestural style often referred to as “Lyrical Abstraction.” See his vivd works in Brilliance, on view through Nov. 30 by appointment at Connersmith, 1013 O St. NW, or online here.
Call for Short-Term Residents, Arlington Arts Center – Arlington, VA
Deadline: November 30 Arlington Arts Center’s (AAC) resident artist program provides subsidized studio space in a supportive environment that encourages growth, dialogue, and exploration. The program gives artists the opportunity to develop their practice in a community with other artists and alongside AAC’s critically acclaimed exhibitions and extensive educational programs. Currently, AAC is seeking two short-term residents. Click here to apply.
Call for Artists, OCA Mocha — Arbutus, MD
Deadline: December 1 OCA Mocha is accepting submissions of art—any hangable medium—that addresses social issues for which you are an advocate or activist. To be considered, submit contact information: name, phone, email, website, Instagram (if applicable); images of artwork to be considered; information about each artwork: title, framed dimensions, medium, date created, short description (if applicable); and send to the attention of art coordinator Madeline Arbutus at [email protected] with “Advocacy Through Art” as the subject line.
Call for Entry, Del Ray Artisans – Alexandria, VA
Deadline: December 14 Whether it is the mysteries of the universe, or just something in your own backyard, the world is rife with surprises waiting to be uncovered. This exhibit challenges you to look deeply into the world, into your emotions, or just into your imagination and uncover some part of the Hidden World. For more information, click here.
Call for Artists, Mount Rainier Arts Commission 2021 Mural Project Call for Artist Qualifications – Mount Rainier, MD
Deadline: December 18 The Mount Rainier Arts Commission (MRAC) is requesting Artist Qualifications to create a contemporary outdoor mural. This project is committed to enhancing visibility of the areas business district, and enlightening public experience through the visual arts. Submissions will be considered from artists who reside or hold studio space in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Learn more here.
Re-runs: These have been previously posted, but it’s not too late to enter!
Maryland State Arts Council Open Public Art Calls, University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Coppin State University
Deadline: November 24 The Maryland State Arts Council’s Maryland Public Art Initiative is proud to announce two open Calls for Artists for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) School of Pharmacy & Health Professions, and the Coppin State University College of Business. The projects are the first Maryland Public Art Initiative public artworks on Maryland HBCU campuses. Both Calls to Artists are open to any artist or artist team living in the United States. Artists with a connection to HBCUs and/or residents of Maryland are especially encouraged to apply. For information on each project and how to apply, click here.
Call For Photography, The Phillips Collection Community in Focus – DC
Deadline: November 29 Be a part of The Phillips Collection’s ambitious community project to capture a unique photographic snapshot of an unprecedented year. Everyone—no matter your skill level—is invited to submit a photo that captures a piece of your 2020. Show us your inimitable spirit, suffering, joy, and resilience. Community in Focus aims to put together a collective portrait filled with bravery, humor, sadness, creativity, and kindness—human emotions that connect us all. Learn more and submit photos here.
Call for Entry: Down to Earth | Seasonal Artist Residency at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens – DC
Deadline: November 30Tendani | 8 Arts & Culture is pleased to introduce a new seasonal artist residency at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens – Down to Earth – a creative project partnership between Capital Fringe, Caandor Labs, and Friends of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, a proud partner of the National Park Service. Tendani | 8 Arts & Culture is offering four paid artists’ residencies under the theme Down to Earth to provide an outlet for DC, Maryland, and Virginia artists and creatives to create artwork or experiences that examine our ability and fortitude as human beings to tackle the climate emergency and systemic racism. Projects developed through the residency will engage the landscape and wildlife of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, utilizing them for inspiration or as a metaphorical or literal canvas. They are inviting four cohorts, either solo or teams, to four 13-week residencies in 2021. Learn how to apply here.
Open Call for Eco-Urgency at Wave Hill and Lehman College Art Gallery – Bronx, NY
Deadline: November 30 Wave Hill is accepting applications for the exhibition Eco-Urgency: Artists Make the Case, an expanded collaboration with Lehman College Art Gallery, at galleries in both locations, planned for July through November 2021. Eco-Urgency features artists focused on critical issues affecting ecosystems and biodiversity. Learn more here.
Call for Entry: Art For Social Justice Contest
Deadline: December 1 Art For Your Cause, an online marketplace for artists, is hosting an online art contest titled “Art For Social Justice.” Artists are invited to submit art that represents struggles and causes that affect any group of people with the goal of helping them achieve one (or more) of the four pillars of social justice: equity, access, participation, and rights. For more information, click here.
Call for Entry, Resilient Together – D.C.
Deadline: December 1 Resilient Together is a creative placemaking initiative designed to support local artist and small business partnerships in D.C.’s Ward 8. Its overall goal is to spur creative and safe re-opening strategies that small businesses can employ to begin to attract and grow their customer base as they adapt to continually changing COVID-19 restrictions. Artists and small businesses should partner to respond to the call for collaborators. Each project should include at least one artist and one small business (“Artist/Small Business Partnership”), and detail the way in which parties will work together on their RESILIENT TOGETHER project. For more information, click here.
Call for Arts and Social Justice Fellow – Rockville, MD
Deadline: December 23 VisArts has created a new Arts and Social Justice Fellowship Program for visual activists whose current research, curatorial or visual activist practice, and passion centers on social, racial, economic, and/or environmental justice. The year-long fellowship is an opportunity to explore how thoughtfully curated art, dialogue, communication, and collaborations between artists and communities can productively navigate political flashpoints, chronic systemic inequities, and entrenched perspectives to inspire change towards a more equitable, just, and inclusive society. Learn more here.
Call for Entry, SlowArt Productions Emerging Artists 2021 – New York
Deadline: December 30 SlowArt Productions presents Emerging Artists 2021, the 29th annual competition for exhibition and cash awards. The competition is open to all artists, national and international, working in all media. All forms of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, graphics, digital and installation art, video, etc. are eligible. Learn more here.
Call for Entries, Juried Printmaking Exhibition – Germantown, MD
Deadline: February 1, 2021 BlackRock Center for the Arts is now accepting entries for the regional juried exhibition INK IT: Contemporary Print Practices. It is open to artists in the Mid-Atlantic region (MD, DC, VA, PA, DE and WV) who are age 18 and older. Fore more information, click here.
Atlantic Gallery Juried Show 2021: Drawn to Paper
Deadline December 1 Artists are invited to engage in a conversation with paper in whatever way they want. Some examples of paper but not limited to: cardboard, paper, rice paper, newsprint, construction paper, decoupage paper, card stock, recycled paper, kraft paper, deconstructed books, etc. To enter, click here.
The 2021 Socrates Annual Open Call – Long Island City, NY
Deadline: December 4 The 2021 Socrates Annual awards ten artists – selected through open-call application process by a curatorial jury – with the funding, technical assistance, and administrative support needed to realize ambitious public art projects for dedicated exhibition in the Park’s landscape. Learn more here.
Call For Entry, Busboys and Poets EMERGE AND SEE – DC, VA, MD
Deadline: December 14 Busboys and Poets is looking for visual art to be displayed for its upcoming EMERGE AND SEE exhibition beginning January 2021 at all its locations – 14th and V, NW; 450 K NW; Takoma, Brookland, Shirlington, Hyattsville and Anacostia. Learn more here.
Call For Entry, Dreams and Nightmares National Juried Exhibition – Arlington, VA
Deadline: December 14 Gallery Underground announces a call to artists for a juried art exhibition, February 1 – 26, 2021. Artists will interpret the theme “Dreams and Nightmares” – from the beautiful and sublime to the dark and twisted. All media accepted. Learn more here.
Mobius Fall 2020 Portrait Photography Competition
Deadline: December 15 Mobius Photo, an online platform dedicated to the curation of emerging and established photographers, seeks portraiture on fashion, politics, family, nudes, etc., for their fall competition. For more information, click here.
Torpedo Factory Art Center 2021 Open Call for Solo Exhibition – Alexandria, VA
Deadline: December 20 Target Gallery invites regional artists living in the D.C., Maryland, or Virginia to apply for an open call for proposals for a solo exhibition for the summer of 2021. The individual with the chosen proposal will receive an exhibition at Target Gallery from May 29 – July 18, 2021 as well as a virtual online catalog. The artist will also receive a $2000 stipend as well as $100 for providing an artist talk and guided tour. For more information, click here.
Call For Entries, Artist/Writers: Cover Art For Academic Medicine
Deadline: December 30 Submit original works of art inspired by, but not necessarily representative of, an academic medicine experience from any perspective: caregiver, researcher, teacher, learner, or patient (for example, learning how to be a physician or scientist, caring for patients, exploring research questions, making a new discovery, being a research participant, teaching, or being cared for in a teaching hospital). The journal welcomes photography, sculpture, painting, textile work, and other visual media. Images may be cropped or resized to fit into the allotted cover space. Artists must also submit a related Cover Art essay as a narrative companion to the artwork, to explain the connection between the work and the “academic medicine experience.” Learn more here.
Call For Entries, Techpressions 2021
Deadline: December 31 Techspressionism 2021 is an online exhibition to be presented online at Techspressionism.com using the Kunstmatrix 3D exhibition platform. Entries will be limited to two-dimensional works (paintings, drawings, digital images, and prints) in which technology is utilized as a means to express emotional experience. Learn more here.
Call For Entries, Outwin Boochevar Portrait Competition 2022 – D.C.
Deadline, January 28, 2021 The National Portrait Gallery invites artists to submit portraits in any media for consideration in the sixth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Artists are encouraged to think about portraiture’s potential to engage with the social and political landscape of our time. For more information, click here.
Call For Entries, Athenaeum Gallery – Alexandria, VA
Deadline: August 25, 2021 Artists who live or work in Virginia, Maryland, or the District of Columbia may submit a proposal for a solo show. A group of artists who live or work in the area may submit a proposal for a group show. A curator, living or working anywhere, may submit a proposal for a show featuring works by artists living or working in this area. For more information, click here.
Ongoing: These opportunities have rolling deadlines.
(RECENT) Call For Stories About Women in the Arts, Maryland State Arts Council
2020 has been dedicated to the Year of the Woman in Maryland. Do you have an inspiring story about vital contributions of women-identifying people who are artists, arts administrators, or cultural workers? Perhaps an exhibition, performance or project featuring women? Share it with the Maryland State Arts Council for potential use in marketing and communications! Send your ideas to [email protected], and include “Year of the Woman” in the subject line. Satff will contact senders whose stories are selected for inclusion in future newsletters, eblasts, or social media postings. Learn more about Maryland’s year of the Woman here.
(RECENT) Call For Artists, Busboys and Poets
Busboys and Poets is looking for submissions from Maryland and Virginia artists as it expands to new locations in both areas. Submissions can include drawings, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, assemblage, fiber, quilts, etc. Art images reflecting life in the city, family, portraits, whimsy, abstraction, social uplift and life experiences within diverse cultures are encouraged for submission. For more information, click here.
Alterwork Studios Online Residency
This residency was designed to give emerging contemporary artists an online platform to create new work and explore their practice. Over the course of four weeks, artists will be encouraged to experiment and explore their concepts and move their work forward in the contemporary art world. Learn more here.
Accepting Artwork for Curatorial Review by AIWA
The Alper Initiative for Washington Art features five exhibitions per year in the newly constructed first floor space in the American University Museum. We accept submissions, on a rolling basis, from Washington artists of all ages and backgrounds, and working in diverse media. The museum’s Director and Curator, Jack Rasmussen, will select curators who will review these submissions for potential use in Alper Initiative exhibitions. For more information click here.
Call For Entry Hamilton Arts Collective Guest Artist Exhibition – Baltimore, MD
The Hamilton Arts Collective (HAC) and the Hamilton Gallery seek applications from artists for month-long Guest Artist exhibitions at Hamilton Gallery located at 5502 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD. The selected guest artists will be invited to exhibit a selection of their current work in Gallery I of the Hamilton Gallery. The Guest Artist exhibition is featured in Hamilton Gallery communications and will be promoted by the HAC and Hamilton Gallery. This is an open call to artists residing within 60 miles of Baltimore City. Baltimore residents are encouraged to apply. Click here to learn more.
Howard County Arts Council Quarterly Call For Artists – Ellicott City, MD
The Howard County Arts Council gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. Proposals from curators and arts organizations are also welcome. Click here to learn more.
Exhibit at Hotel Indigo Downtown Baltimore — Baltimore, MD
The Maryland Art Place (MAP) is working with Hotel Indigo in downtown Baltimore to offer rotating exhibitions in the hotel’s library and Poets Modern Cocktails and Eats restaurant. This opportunity is open to visual artists living or working in Maryland. ’s public art partnership projects (MAP), in partnership with Hotel Indigo, is pleased to announce an open call to artists. MAP will curate four exhibitions a year based on submissions entered through a rolling basis. Click here to learn more.
Solo or Group Shows in Athenaeum Gallery – VA
The Athenaeum Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia exhibits visual arts created solely by artists living or working in the region (DC, Maryland and Virginia) and strives to present visitors with a wide variety of excellent art and unique experiences. In addition to the shows curated by the Gallery Director, the Athenaeum Gallery invites artists and curators to submit show proposals. For more information, click here.
The Creativity Grant Program State of Maryland (MD)
Deadline: Rolling. The purpose of the Creativity Grant Program is to strengthen the vitality and sustainability of artists and small organizations to maintain a strong and stable arts infrastructure in the State of Maryland. The Creativity Grant also provides opportunities to serve the growing needs of relevant arts projects and collaborations within Maryland communities. For more information regarding eligibility and funding timelines, please review the Creativity Grants Guidelines. For more information about the program, and to apply visit the Creativity Grant Program State of Maryland website.
Artist/Writers: Cover Art for Academic Medicine
Deadline: Rolling. Submit original works of art inspired by, but not necessarily representative of, an academic medicine experience from any perspective: caregiver, researcher, teacher, learner, or patient (for example, learning how to be a physician or scientist, caring for patients, exploring research questions, making a new discovery, being a research participant, teaching, or being cared for in a teaching hospital). The journal welcomes photography, sculpture, painting, textile work, and other visual media. Images may be cropped or resized to fit into the allotted cover space. Artists must also submit a related Cover Art essay as a narrative companion to the artwork, to explain the connection between the work and the “academic medicine experience.” The related narrative should be 250 to 600 words and is subject to editing. To apply for this opportunity, and to learn more, visit the Academic Medicine website.
The Awesome Foundation Accepting Applications for Art Projects
Deadline: Open. The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is a worldwide network of people devoted to forwarding the interest of “awesomeness in the universe.” Established in 2009, the foundation distributes $1,000 grants on a monthly basis to projects and their creators. The money is pooled from ten or more self-organizing “micro-trustees.” The chapters are autonomous and organized by the trustees around geographic areas or topics of interest. Apply on the Awesome Foundation website.
Call for Artists: Maryland Art Place Seeks Proposals for Rotating Exhibition Partnership with Baltimore’s Hotel Indigo (MD)
Deadline: rolling. Maryland Art Place (MAP), in partnership with Hotel Indigo is pleased to announce an open ‘Call to Artists’. As an extension of MAP’s annual IMPACT public art partnership projects, MAP is working with Hotel Indigo to offer rotating exhibitions in Hotel indigo’s library and Poets Modern Cocktails and Eats. This opportunity is available to visual artists living or working in Maryland. Maryland Art Place will curate four exhibitions a year based on submissions entered through a rolling basis. Guidelines and information here.
Peripheral ARTeries – Biennial Contemporary Art Publication
Deadline: Rolling. Peripheral ARTeries is looking for artists to be featured in the new special Biennial Edition of their art publication, that comes to its 10th edition. This opportunity is great for both established and early career artists who need a boost to their artist portfolio. The 10th edition will once again explore and show current trends and tendencies in Contemporary Art: Peripheral ARTeries cultivates a spirit of openness through a unique collaborative and participatory approach.Each artist may submit a maximum of three works or projects made in any technique: painting, drawing, video art, experimental cinema, fine art photography, experimental media, mixed media, installations, public art, performance. The call is open to all proposed kind of art and media capable of challenging the viewers’ traditional perspective on art itself. To submit, visit the Peripheral ARTeries website.
Exhibit at Hotel Indigo (VA)
Artists works will displayed in the hotel’s gallery (220 S Union St, Old Town Alexandria) for a six-month period. Two-dimensional, framed works only. Artists will install the work using the hotel’s mounting hardware. Labels will be provided by the hotel. All sales handled by artist, no commission. Preference for local or locally influenced selections but not required. The space measures approximately 7’10” by 8’3.″ If interested, contact Kate Ellis, General Manager, [email protected].
The New Project Studio – Ongoing Opportunity (VA)
Ongoing. Located in Studio 8, the New Project Studio is a community-focused arts incubator space that offers a short-term location to test new program ideas, spotlight underrepresented voices, and enhance community engagement. Projects rotate on a regular basis. For more information, click here.
Public Arts Grants & Opportunities (VA)
Ongoing. The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts provides grants for nonprofit arts organizations as well as individual artists. See all current opportunities and online applicationshere.
Residency: Maryland
Deadline: ongoing. Montgomery College, Rockville and Germantown Art Department is seeking proposals for its Artist-in-Residence Program, encouraging proposals that cultivate collaborative work between artists and students.
Looking for artists: Foundry Gallery (DC)
Deadline: ongoing. Foundry Gallery is seeking a few artists in the greater Washington, DC area. If interested in applying for membership please send up to five images (jpg attachments) and an email letter to: [email protected]. The oldest cooperative in Washington, the gallery holds monthly solo and members’ group shows at its beautiful space north of Shaw near the 9:30 Club.
Looking for artists: Printmakers (DC)
Deadline: ongoing. Washington Printmakers Gallery is seeking artist members specializing in printmaking, photography and book arts. An active cooperative for over 30 years, the gallery holds monthly solo and members’ group shows in its lovely space in upper Georgetown. Distant and shared memberships are available. If interested in applying for membership please email [email protected].
"Feast!" Noveember 2020 Exhibition juror Anki King (Photo: Jason Bockli)
We spoke to Anki King, our November Feast! juror, about her artistry as a painter and sculptor, and her award-winning selections.
By Julia Chance
Anki King experiences a visceral reaction when she sees a well-crafted work of art, particularly if it is a painting. “This sounds funny to people who don’t get it, but when I see juicy paintings, my mouth waters and my fingers start tingling—like I want to touch it.”
And just what, exactly, is a “juicy” painting?
“One where the painter was unafraid of the medium,” King explains, citing the energetic brushwork of Cy Twombly and the densely painted canvasses of Anselm Kiefer, two of her favorites. “When we start [as artists] we treat paint as color, and it’s so much more than that. Once you have a good brush stroke it gives a completely different expression.”
King’s impressionistic brushwork and deep palette give the figures that appear prominently in her large-scale paintings an air of mystery. They tend to be faceless, sometimes shrouded, with bodies and limbs stretching and contorting to personify an action, a feeling, or notion. They are symbols, she says, for feelings that can not be accurately described in words.
“Hiding I”, 18×24, oil on canvas, 2019
“Arms,” 63×67, oil on canvas, 2019
“Two,” 12.5×9.5, mixed on paper, 2020
“The emotions that I work from when I paint are so complex, I just have them with me as I’m creating, and they become very much part of the work,” King says during a recent telephone chat. “Everything I see and feel and learn and dream and experience, it all becomes part of it.”
Her approach to art is more exploratory than planned. “I always start paintings in different ways to challenge myself and see what happens when I do this or that,” she describes. And when drawing, “I usually sit on the floor, put charcoal to paper and start doodling. I’ll add other mediums—like ink, gesso, colored pencil, oil, pastel—until I feel like there’s some imagery there.”
King prefers to sprawl out on the floor when drawing. “It goes back to childhood. I was always on my living room floor drawing with colored pencils all around me.”
Creating sculpture appeals to King’s tactile sensibilities as well. “It’s like moving the painting out into a 3-D form that I can touch with my hands.” As sculpture, her signature figures are life-size, made of natural materials like tree branches, twigs, vines, and jute, or simply plaster. “I like dry types of mediums that look rugged and raw, not sleek.”
“Vine Woman,” vines and branches over wood armature, 2008
King describes her artistic career as a journey of discovery, something she could not have fathomed as a girl from a small Norwegian town. “I thought that artists were all dead and just their work hung in museums,” she admits. “I grew up in a town with 2,000 people. There weren’t any artists around me. There were a lot of crafts, but not art the way I now know it.”
Her lifelong love of drawing eventually led her to enroll at Oslo Drawing and Painting School. One of her teachers once remarked that only a small percentage of the student body would continue making art once they left school, and that’s when things clicked for King. “I just knew that I was going to be one of them,” she recalls. “That’s when I discovered that art had gotten me.” After completing a three-year program, she moved to New York where she is currently based and furthered her studies at The Students Art League. Her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally.
When she is not making her art, King is overseeing the work of other artists as the exhibition manager of the gallery at The Students Art League. “We’ve moved most of our exhibits online which, amazingly enough, takes no less time [to produce] than doing them in person.”
We were thrilled to have her as the juror for Feast!, and she was impressed with the quality of work that was submitted. “I probably spent a good two to three full days just going over the work,” King says. “I was struck by the colors, composition, use of material, and personal voice. There was a lot of bold, strong work.” Here is what she had to say about her award-winning selections:
Best-in-Show Award winner Fruit Bowl by Susan Callahan
“Fruit Bowl,” by Susan Callahan, is the Best-in-Show Award winner in the “Feast” November 2020 Exhibition.
“It is so innovative—the colors, the whole grid system that is all over the work. From the first time I saw it I thought, Wow! Somebody had something to say here. The colors are beautiful. The composition is really exciting, just right on. And it’s a very personal voice. [The artist] is not trying to copy [a style] to make a perfect still life with a fruit bowl and a cake and a vase. It’s something much past that.”
Honorable Mentions:
Pear in the Landscape by Terry Rowe
“What an interesting photo collage. It is both mysterious and funny. And it has such a good overall texture to it—how the bruises on the pear speak to the landscape, and what’s done in the landscape. It makes you ponder the juicy flesh of the pear compared to the edgy hardness of the fence. The artist didn’t just stick a pear in the landscape but made the whole image into something that, with the cloud and the blue, almost feels like one of the old master paintings. But then, it’s such a surprising image to have this giant pear sitting in the landscape instead of what you expect to see. I love that surprise.”
FÊTE by Nada Abizaid
“What hit me first about these pieces was the subtle color, and they are beautifully photographed. They speak very well to Feast!, being onion-shaped. They also speak to a classical form. I’m glad they weren’t presented individually. They work beautifully as a group.”
Spring Harvest by Nancy McIntyre
“This is just incredible skill, first of all, to be able to paint things that look so perfect. What got me here, in addition to the artist being extremely skillful, is this innovative composition. Everything is placed in a round, which could be very boring, but the tablecloth and how all the vegetables move in that circle is so interesting, it almost speaks to time. The round shape makes me think of a clock. Those little tops of the radishes point all different ways, giving you directions to move in the painting. I can almost smell that bread.”
Still Life with Lime by Sarah Strickler
“There were a lot of beautiful still life photography submissions. This one is so masterfully put together. Every little detail is thought out, including the reflections of the windows in the pitcher, the tablecloth, the white cloth on the side, the red pull, and the darkness of the background. Where the shadows fall, the peel of the lime—that they chose lime instead of something else to peel, so you have the green against the red—there’s not one haphazard thing here. The simplicity of the colors is stunning. It speaks very strongly to classical still life painting, but it also speaks very well to photography.”
Depression Era Kitchen, Frozen in Time by Joseph Kieffer
“This piece stood out. That it is sculptural, all white so that the objects speak only by their shape and not by any color, and the perspective that is created by the semi-build out of all the objects on the edges, is fascinating. It is so mysterious. I can’t figure out why it is the way it is, but it’s also so specific, it doesn’t seem like it could’ve been done any other way. I hope this artist continues with this kind of work.”
Lettuce by Pam Gregory
“This is interesting, intricate work, and I enjoyed it. The way the greens are treated, the darks and the lighter parts of the green, is just beautiful. It’s almost like some of these lines float in space, and some of them bring you back to an object, and then you’re taken out into space again. Watercolor is such a difficult, unforgiving medium because you can’t hide any mistakes. This is super detailed, and the artist is very patient.”
On the Vine by Cindi Lewis
“I don’t know if this is a several-plate process, or if the artist added the color to the print after, but it has such a beautiful texture. Printmakers often either get too clean or things can look like mistakes, but everything here looks right, and ripe! There is a very tactile sense of these fruits. The whole composition works, with lines that take you in directions all over. The green curly vine against the round shapes of the tomatoes against these folds in the fabric, and the shadows—to get that much out of two tomatoes. It’s a beautiful print.”
Cake Reflected by Mary Beth Gaiarin
“This is a yummy painting. Wonderful use of the palette knife. Adding paint with a palette knife can feel like adding frosting to a painting and in this case it is very appropriate. The light in this work is beautifully and skillfully placed. The edges between foreground, cake slice, and background are created by overlaying paint layers which is an advanced way of manipulating the paint. It is also visible in the background, which has simple color, but is still lively due to the masterly treatment of the paint. This artist has a deep connection to the paint and uses it with boldness and joy.”
