Details

Start Date Tue, August 1, 2017 @ 10:00 AM
End Date Thu, August 31, 2017 @ 5:00 PM
Location The Cuyahoga Valley Art Center

Crooked River Plein Air

Competition – Exhibition – Art Sale

Artist were invited to participate in the Cuyahoga Valley Art Centers 1st Annual Crooked River Plein Air competition taking place from Noon July 22nd thru 5:00 PM July 28th. The participants are now on display at the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center from Aug 1st – Aug 31st. This exhibition highlights the beauty of Ohio’s Cuyahoga River Watershed and all its unique charm.

CVAC shall be celebrating the participants and these winning artists listed below at a reception, free to the public, on August 11th from 5:30-7:00 PM at CVAC.

CVAC welcomes you to come see this painterly snap-shot of Ohio’s Cuyahoga River Watershed today, as it leaves a lasting impression for a lifetime.

BEST OF SHOW

In the tradition of Plein Air, this painting exemplifies the principles of this ancient craft. You’ve done an exquisite job at capturing the whimsical nature of such a small snapshot in time. The use of powdered blues in the background leaves room for the viewer to interpret many different times of day, and the use of violet hues in the midground bring a dreamlike transition to the Earth plain. This piece displays a great use of varying styles of brushstrokes and in doing so, helps provide contrast for the elements depicted: atmospheric skies, different types of deciduous trees, calming rock and bank formations, and gentle waters. The use of a myriad of shades of greens and brown hues to pull that reflection of the trees above into the water is well executed and not overly done. Congratulations on a brilliant piece!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Helen Gilmore

Painesville, OH

Cuyahoga Creek

oil

$275

SECOND PLACE

This is such a strong painting. The layers of brush strokes that are built up to provide a depth of contrast for the viewer are well executed. The mindful use of thin and thick areas, have obviously been done with care, so as to maintain a depth in the landscape.  Using a scrubbing to depict the brush, and more kinetic brushstrokes for the water element is well done. Your palette in the water is vast and shows good observation of lighting and depth of water. It’s not easy to emulate the chaotic, yet symphonic way of water rushing over rocks. Your use of smaller, additive application of white moving toward the foreground shows a deliberation and patience in doing so.  This painting is a great example of the energy that well executed landscapes depict: it feels vibrant, alive and evolving. The composition provides the viewer with an opportunity to have a continuous dialogue with it, as the water moves on and off the page, creating an unending storyline. Congratulations on this lovely work!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Jody Crow

Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Cascades

oil

$750

THIRD PLACE

Within Plein Air, sometimes it’s harder to depict a serene picture plane with less chaos to make up the geography of the composition. In this well-executed painting, you have done just that. You have created a dreamlike snapshot, accurately portraying the time of day, the weather and the energy – with only a glimpse of a view. This is also not an easy scene to portray in this stylized fashion and a limited palette. The parameters you chose to execute this piece with are obvious, deliberate and well chosen. The dappled light coming through the trees in the background, allows the viewer to continuously peer beyond the tree line, allowing for a continued narrative. The middle ground foliage application allows for a curiosity to form of just how far back it traverses in the picture plain. The foreground contains a mystery that allows a dialogue for the viewer to continue on, which is a really intriguing and smart choice. And your use of thin glazing those sunlit strokes in the foreground to reinforce the serenity into the picture plain is brilliant. This is the kind of landscape that, in its unique stylistic application, beckons the viewer to grasp that this place in time most likely means a great deal to the artist. Congratulations on a very strong work.

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Rich Makruski

Atwater, OH

Lonely Child’s Grave

oil

$250

HONORABLE MENTION

What a fun approach to Plein Air! The playful use of light strokes, slowly built up to indicate depth and movement is well done. Your palette is grounding, calming but complex enough to allow the viewer to keep coming back to key moments in the plain. The palette shift for the water, still employing the hues used in the bank shows great understanding of balance and reflection points in a composition. I’m very taken by the playful strokes in the foreground in creating those exciting moments of the water’s movement. You have an excellent understanding of how a stroke’s shape can determine the movement within a piece. Keep going, and congratulations!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Doug Halke

North Ridgeville, OH

Morning Lights on the River at Lock 29

oil

$120

HONORABLE MENTION

This is most certainly not an easy composition to execute, and it is a very good example of how to do this properly. The chaos of so many similar forms, so many similar strokes, and so many different types of flowers together is very challenging. You have done a remarkable job of creating depth, a dance and a conversation between the plants, clusters of flowers and the viewer. Your more abstract way of working with the foreground provides balance in an otherwise kinetic scape. The choice of using powder blues, salmons and faint yellows in the background provide a density, but also a calmness with which to understand the more busy nature of the flowers in the foreground. The nuances of cad yellow highlights on the leaves and cad red in the foreground helps everything pop. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future! Congratulations!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Helen Gilmore

Painesville, OH

Flowers

oil

$350

HONORABLE MENTION

This is a complex composition to make in the medium of watercolor. You’ve successfully depicted a background, middle ground AND foreground, and allowed their very different characteristics to shine through!  I appreciate that you’ve provided latitude for a storyline, with a figure wandering through the background. It provides a storyline for the viewer, whereby most plein air landscapes do not. This piece could be depicting early fall, spring, or summer; it could be after a rain or before a storm – and the viewer is left with room to continue wondering. Your use of more saturated, bold tones in the water is strong, and again, not an easy thing to do with watercolor. The use of ultramarine near the rocks, and additive use of whites on the splashes of the water, helps give the viewer a height and depth of your composition. Congratulations on an intriguing landscape. This is strong work!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Deb Zemanek

Northfield, OH

Raging River

watercolor

$400

HONORABLE MENTION

What a beautiful watercolor, and not an easy composition to execute with this medium! There is so much depth with that payne’s gray in the background, and use of cobalt above. The different ways you’ve chosen to apply the background layers, feels as though you were emulating the changing times of day and the wispy clouds that might have been present, only moments before. The almost hidden dwelling, barely seen beyond the trees, and the reflection of the country house in the water are so alluring, so calming. Your command of violet hues within both the foliage and the water element are just grand! I very much look forward to seeing more of your work in the future. Congratulations!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Hillary Sheeter

Hudson, OH

Lazy River

watercolor

$100

HONORABLE MENTION

Acrylic isn’t a usual medium for plein air, as it’s more difficult to control. Your style and command of this medium in this composition is really well done. Your choice of thin and thick applications, and glazing with veridians and cobalt’s within the sky are just fantastic. I can only imagine it must have been very challenging to capture the changing atmosphere in the cloud formations with acrylic – and your choice to use violets in your glazing layers was very smart. You have an interesting, more graphic approach to the style of plein air, and it is a welcome approach. The veridian greens and lemon yellows provide a vibrancy to this composition that is very intriguing and enlivening! Congratulations on a beautiful work!

–          Jessica Loftus, Juror

Sally Heston

Broadview Heights, OH

Indigo Lake

acrylic

$250

 

 

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