Juror's Comments - Online Winter Exhibit

Awards and remarks by Lois Wolford
 
It is an honor and pleasure to have judged this year’s PVW Winter 2021 Online Exhibition. Congratulations to all the award winners and to all artists who have work in the exhibit. 
 
When there are so many strong paintings, it is always tough to narrow down the choices for the award winners. The work in this show ranges from realism to abstraction. In selecting award winners, I looked for use of strong design, good understanding and use of design principles and art elements. I also look for works that convey a mood, tell a story and to which I have an emotional response.
 
Best in Show - Jean K. Gill - Yellow Breeze
The intense colors against the neutrals in this complimentary color cord is wonderfully fluid. She takes full advantage of the wonderfully fluid properties of watercolor. The shapes are beautifully simplified, the colors sing and I love the small bits of red orange in the neutralized trees.
 
Baltimore Watercolor Society Award - Stacy Levy - Concentration
Besides the slumped posture of the figure and the overhead view there are lots textures to enjoy in this painting. The wall, tabletop reflections, floor, jeans and glass are all beautifully rendered in a very limited pallet that unifies this complicated painting. 
 
Virginia Watercolor Society Award - Angela Lacy - Revelation
This strong value painting with lots of repetition of lines and shapes that has beautiful nuances of neutral colors in the aches above the main door and throughout the painting. Diagonals in the floor lead us to the door where there is a bit of bright color. The figure off to the side brings life and scale to the work.
 
Memorial Award* - Christine Heyse - Dog Walker
This snow scene gives the artist an opportunity to interlock the many white shapes and have them weave throughout the painting enhancing the cohesiveness and leading the eye around and into the work. I especially like the placement of the white branches on the right that point the viewer back into the painting. It is a complicated piece portrayed with simplified shapes and a limited pallete. Diagonals and color are used in strategic places.
 
*This award is in memory of Jack Harding, Gina Clapp, Peggy Duke, Colleen Spencer Henderson, Jacqueline Saunders, Harris Miller and Pat King, who passed away since last fall.
 
Honorable Mentions
 
Theresa Anstrom - Morning Blossoms
These flowers are painted very sensitively with variations of white and reflective color from the centers of the blooms. Each flower face turns in a different direction, resulting in a pleasing composition and placement of shapes. The high contrast creates a powerful impact.
 
Gwendolyn Bragg - A Sunny Spot
The cats are painted with expressiveness and simplicity. I enjoy how the textured background strokes weave into the cats and horizontal surface creating a sense of oneness. There is strong division of space and contrast that demand attention.
 
 
Noreen Brunini - Coffee Table Book in The Time Of Covid
I see a number of triangular shapes being repeated in the composition that makes for an exciting division of space with lots of visual entertainment. The play of light across the page with intense darks in the shadow areas make this a compelling still-life. 
 
Deborah Burk - Extensions-Spark           
I love the energy in this painting. It is all about relationships between the expressive shapes, lines, colors, direction and texture. Nicely nuanced application of paint. A joy.
 
Deborah Conn - The Way She Sees It
I love the position and attitude of the figure. The head tilt, nose in the air and fingers entwined around the glass of wine all contribute to the story in this painting. The hands, head and body form a large triangle that sets up a very nicely constructed composition.
 
Rob Henry - Winterlong
In this piece, a serene mood is expertly achieved by the extremely limited palette. What happens in the background is magical. I am not sure how the texture was achieved, but it is beautiful. This is a minimal painting that says so much
 
Hernan Murno - Colors and Mirages of the Sierra
This is a study in diagonals, lines, overlap and color. The diagonals set up tension and the beautiful layers of color that look like stain glass sing as you travel up and down the page.
 
Karen Norman - Pointers
The arrangement of the oil cans and their entertaining spouts is a masterful touch. The patina on the cans is beautifully painted. The spouts provide direction, entertainment and movement. The spouts create interesting negative spaces and each tip is at a different height.
 
Peter Ulrich - The Calder Mobile at the National Gallery
This painting has a wonderful sense of time, space and place that tells a story. I appreciate the way the crisscross lines in the background echo the mobile. The darks in the mobile keep it integrated in the painting along with a small touch of red in figure below.
 
Rosa Vera - Tuscan Angles
This painting takes full advantage of the art principals. The repetition of shapes and colors both unify and set up a nice rhythm to the painting. The eye travels through the painting by following the varied blues, oranges and yellows. The strong vivid shadow on the large yellow building invites the viewer into the painting.