17 AAG Members in Belton Show
The 2019 Juried Art Show opened at the Belton Center for the Arts on Sept. 28 and runs through Nov. 8.
The $750 First Place Award went to Dustin Massey for Gordon Has Plans (acrylic). The $500 Second Place Award went to Terry Jarrard-Dimond for Convergence (acrylic). The $250 Third Place Award went to Ashley Waller for Room (oil).
Seventeen members of the Anderson Artists Guild were in the show: JoAnne Anderson, Matthew Brophy, Debbie Bzdyl, Marion Carroll, Barbara Ervin, Carolyn Gibson, Heyward Henderson, Julie Lamp, Hamed Mahmoodi, Mary McDonough, Rosemary Moore, Kathy Ogden, Gloria Root, Diann Simms, Lori Solymosi, Nancy Speer, and Diana Walter.
Four AAG members won $100 Merit Awards: Matthew Brophy for Sunflower Blues (ceramic), Barbara Ervin for The Good Earth (monotype, colored pencil), Rosemary Moore for Canyon Ridge (acrylic), and Gloria Root for Cliff Rock Dwellers (photography).
Two of the award winners offered reflections on their pieces:
Barbara Ervin “The process goes like this: I roll ink (oil) onto a piece of plexiglass and either add texture (scraping or smudging the ink) or take away texture (wiping or blocking out), then put paper on the plexi and run it through my printmaking press. This presses the ink onto the paper. I like the process because you can get so many interesting textures with a press-drawback. Everything comes out as a mirror image of what you did on the plexi—so you have to think backwards design-wise to do the next step.
“I only get one image—but I do ink the plexi multiple times and run it through the press multiple times. The image changes constantly. The image of what it is supposed to look like in my head is thrown out the window and I just go with what blobs or colors I get from the press. I will erase parts with an eraser and sometimes sandpaper if the ink has dried a day—or if I just need to get rid of this blob or that line of color. I will use the deckled edge of handmade paper as a stencil to block ink from the paper to create the distant land shapes or other parts in the image like clouds or hills. Baby powder is also used to create clouds and stars (put on to block the ink from the paper).
“In this particular piece I really sandpapered it. . . added more ink. . . sandpapered it, etc, so many times that if you look at the artwork, you can actually see the texture of the layers of ink/paper that have been abused by me!
“After I feel like it is ‘getting there,’ I use Prismacolor pencils to pull out some colors here and there.”
Gloria Root
“The New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah area is probably our favorite Go-To Destination. This Arizona ghost town with several rock dwellings along AZ-89A is always a photo opportunity flanked by the Vermillion Cliffs. It’s located west of Marble Canyon on the scenic route to Kanab, Utah. It’s not uncommon to find Native Americans under some of these shelters selling their beautiful art creations. All must have authenticity certificates from the Hopi Nation. “We have visited many of their pueblos through the years and have been received well. They want you to know their values, for they are very proud of their traditions and want you to know about their heritage. Be very respectful as to where you can take photographs or even take a camera. Respecting them, they welcome you to come back to visit again. “