AWARDEES & JUROR COMMENTS:

NAA FIRST PRIZE
Michael Flint – Surprise, 2021 – pastel
This charming image of a child, whose expression of ‘surprise’ is expertly conveyed, is rendered here in the warm yet deep tones inherent to this medium. Michael seems to both draw and paint with his pastels to create depth and form by blending, feathering, highlighting, and shading. A halo of light from the upper left animates areas of the picture plane around the young girl, whose gaze, both innocent and piercing, commands the viewer to become engaged with her emotions.

NAA SECOND PRIZE:
Hilary Hanson Bruel – Clark’s Island VIII, 2021 – encaustic
The wax medium and the technique of adding molten pigment to surface is well-conceived in this piece.  Applying hot wax that is both fluid and malleable can be complicated, though done well, the dimensional and sculptural quality of an encaustic can be quite vibrant.  Hilary has used several implements to fashion varied textures throughout her formal abstracted reflection of a horizon, and the ingenuity of adding courses of thin string, some metallic, across the picture plane, enhances the surface tension and creates yet another layer to this richly colored and textured work.

NAA THIRD PRIZE:
Dick Heller – Street Mural: Punta de Mita, Mexico, 2019 – photograph
This crisply rendered photograph presents a fine lesson in some of the fundamentals of art. ‘Balance’, as the weight and horizontal trajectory of the painted black-toned mural wall exists in asymmetrical relationship with the earthbound green foliage; ‘variety’ and ‘perspective, seen by the flattened, distorted space of the painted wall with the clarity of the natural features; ‘rhythm and movement’, experienced by the viewer who traverses the path to see what lies beyond; ‘and ‘emphasis’, with one element – the wall – standing out in the image and creating the message of PLACE that it seems Dick had hoped to achieve.

GENE FAUCHER NAA AWARD:
Cyrus Whittier – McGeorge Bundy: March 30, 1919-September 16, 1996, 2019 – charcoal
This portrait of Bundy seems to reveal the multifaceted nature of the man who was an academic, philanthropist, and National Security Advisor to two presidents, yet is best remembered as a chief architect of the US escalation of the Vietnam War during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. With one eye introspective and the other perhaps conniving and sinister, the dual nature of (this) man is well-rendered by Cyrus in charcoal on paper. Through both technique and expression, Bundy’s power is revealed. Wonder if this was painted from a memory, imagination, or an image of the sitter?

DR. & MRS. LESLIE RUSSELL AWARD:
Ann Miller – Carrying the World, 2021 – mixed media
This non-representational work on paper subtlety balances color, line, and form through the layering of diverse media. Paint, watercolor, marker, cut and collaged paper, and vellum move dynamically across the surface. It is not solely a mix of media and lights and darks that makes this piece successful; Ann both paints and draws, constructs and marks, foregrounding the many intersections that exist between process and material.

MOLLY L. & HENRY SCHOENBERG AWARD:
Gary Younker – October Sun, 2019 – oil on panel
This idyllic scene of an isolated house set in a lush summer landscape evokes the troubled times in which we live, while also paying homage to the sweetness of summer as we enter a new, darker season. The compositional strategies Gary employs, with the banks of trees revealing the charming white house that is, despite being the focal point, left of center, and the daubs of paint that delicately yet confidently dance across the surface, work in tandem to create a pleasing painting.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Suzette Barbier – Untitled, 2021 – digital collage
This photo assembles disparate elements to create a whimsical whole. In the visual arts, collage is traditionally the practice of pasting different forms adjacent and atop one another to build a layered surface. Manipulating images from varied sources to create relationships on a flat surface is done in both traditional photography and here, using electronic media. While we observe from outside, Suzette nudges us to sit within the flora and fauna. A bird and a peony welcome us into a cinematic experience of observing and marveling at the wonder of nature from the well-worn chairs.

Marian Dioguardi – Call Me, 2021 – oil on panel
The frontal view of this single everyday object (better known to people of a certain age!) is reminiscent of several 20th century art movements like Photo Realism, Pop Art, Surrealism and Conceptualism, and the work of artists like Claes Oldenburg, Wayne Thiebaud, and Andy Warhol. Marian’s brush and pallet work enhances the monochromatic surface. Cadmium yellow, and hues and tones of it, is rendered to create depth and the notion of an object that exists as both illusion and reality. The viewer is confronted with perception, both visual and emotional – of how one sees, experiences, and thinks about objects, and reality in general.

Jeanne Gugino – Departure, 2021 – acrylic on canvas
This conceptual painting blends discordant, brash, and noisy colors in the creation of depth and movement, intriguing the viewer and allowing for associations as the eye travels into and out of space that is fragmented by markings. There is a sense of surface tension which might signify texture; however, Jean has applied the paint in such a way that the hand of the artist has disappeared, permitting color rather than medium to heighten the emotive and visual experience.

Barney Levitt – Veggie Rainbow, 2021 – oil
The details delineated in this close-up image of deeply colored veggies nearly make the objects, so much part of our lives, seem like abstract forms. Light enters the picture plane both from above and from the left side, bathing the delicacies and their translucent dancing roots in dappled light. The clustered, tightly packed composition and the placement of the green beans and yellow squash create a balanced yet asymmetrical piece. In the manner of Photorealism, Barney has added a surrealist touch to our everyday diet.