Congratulations to our 2019 Show Award Winners!

About the Judge: Virginia Unseld
Virginia Unseld has been painting the western landscape for 40 years.  Her work is about the act of joyous mark-making as much as about the subject she is painting.  Virginia is primarily a plein air painter. Her studio and home are at 9,200 feet in the Colorado Rockies.
Unseld holds a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Rhode Island School of Design. She taught art in public schools for almost 30 years and has also been an instructor for Adams State University and numerous arts groups.  She is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of Colorado and the Colorado Watercolor Society and a member of Women Artists of the West and the Plein Air Painters of Colorado.  She has exhibited extensively and won many awards for her work.

Virginia shared her thoughts about the winning pieces:
“Thank you for asking me to judge this member’s show. I was happy to see the breadth of the entries in terms of media, style, and subject. I looked and relooked at each piece and sometimes laughed and sometimes felt other strong emotions and sometimes delighted in the creativity or skill. I often struggled between 2 pieces when selecting one for an award. I have included a few notes to explain my choices.”

Future Perfect   Sue Houck

Unique Composition: Future Perfect by Sue Houck: “The design of this piece is unusual by traditional compositional standards. There is no clear point of interest. The balance of elements is also not predictable and therefore a little gutsy. I also love the title and the presentation, while simple, is still professional.”

Wild Red Desert Carol Walker

Unique Contrast: Wild Red Desert by Carol Walker: “It almost seems as though this photograph was created for this category. The contrast between black and white and grey, the contrast of textures in the horse coupled with strong photographic skills and daring cropping and unusual “framing” method of wrapping the image on one side kept drawing me back to take another look.”

Spirit of Buffalo
Linda Faul

Rim Lit Monument
Shaun Shea

Sleeping Rocks
Vicki Payne

Looking for Lunch
Loren Merrill