The Shadow
ART SHOW WINNERS — The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center has announced the winners of its 43rd annual Fall Festival Art Show. The show will be on display through November 18. Row one, from left: Shirley Albright, Elizabeth Locher, Norman Aberle, Bonnie Venable. Row two: Brenja Doane, Rose Dobbins, Gertrude White. Row three: Judith Sivonda, Kyle Keyser, Michael Farrar, Mike Robinson, Judie Lewis. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
ART SHOW WINNERS — The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center has announced the winners of its 43rd annual Fall Festival Art Show. The show will be on display through November 18. Row one, from left: Shirley Albright, Elizabeth Locher, Norman Aberle, Bonnie Venable. Row two: Brenja Doane, Rose Dobbins, Gertrude White. Row three: Judith Sivonda, Kyle Keyser, Michael Farrar, Mike Robinson, Judie Lewis. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
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CLIFTON FORGE — The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center has announced the names of its 43rd annual Fall Festival Art Show.
“With 117 entries from 51 regional artists, (this year’s show) is a really teriffic one,” said Nancy Newhard-Farrar, Arts and Crafts Center executive director.
The show includes paintings in oils, acrylic, water media, sculpture, original fiber art, drawings, and mixed media/collage.
The exhibit will continue through November 18.
Winners include:
Best In Show: Rose Dobbins, Ronceverte, W.Va., “Blue Skies,” drawing-pastel.
Virginia Fraser Memorial Award: Norman Aberle, Clifton Forge, “Smith Creek-April,” acry-lic.
Oil/Acrylic: Judith Sivonda, Covington, “Meadow,” first place; Myrtle Hooker, Roanoke, “Craig Creek,” second place; Suse Field, Monterey, “Breezy Day,” honorable mention; Susie Feinour, Roanoke, “Ancient Tree,” honorable mention.
Water Media: Michael Farrar, Clifton Forge, “Tides Out, Plockton,” first place; Judie Lewis, Lewisburg, W.Va., “Floating,” second place; Diane Mitchell, Clintonville, W.Va., “Piebald Buck,” honorable mention; Marietta Lyall, Lewisburg, W.Va., “Family of Re-enactors,” honorable mention.
Mixed Media/Collage: Gertrude White, Covington, “Autumn Float,” first place; Mary Ann Meador, Roanoke, ”Voicing My Opinion,” second place; Yvonne Alder-man, Christiansburg, “Life,” honorable mention.
Fiber: Bonnie Venable, Roanoke, “Joy,” first place; Shirley Albright, Clifton Forge, “Fit For a Geisha,” second place; Elizabeth Locher, Lexington, “The Puzzle,” honorable mention.
Drawing: Brenja Doane, Union, W.Va., “Moncove Lake,” first place; Mary Jane Spencer, Covington, “Taybug’s Fox,” second place; Mike Robinson, Clifton Forge, “Symbol of Love,” honorable mention.
Sculpture: Kyle Keyser, Covington, “Directions,” first place; Criis Geer Chagnon, Roanoke, “Fragments of Gaia,” second place; J. Gail Geer, Roanoke, “Rest-ing Seal,” honorable mention.
The judge for this year’s exhibit was David Eakin, a working artist from Forest.
Eakin has studied watercolor with Karen Bowden and Don Andrews, water media with Robert Burridge, Carole Barnes, and Vera Dickerson and oils with Rosalie Day White.
An energetic participant with the Summer Artists program at Nimrod Hall in Bath County and active as a plein air artists, he also works with gouache, an opaque water based medium. When he not working with a brush, Eakin enjoys mixed media and uses a camera with ease and certainty.
Prior to his studies with regional and nationally known artists in independent classes and workshops, Eakin earned an Associate Fine Arts Degree at Ferrum College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Lynchburg College.
His sense of composition and design is always on “high alert,” looking for potential subject matter. Eakin enjoys traveling and often uses it as a stimulus and subject in his own work. Sometimes he exercises the logical, analytical side of his brain, recording and reporting what he sees, but he also enjoys engaging the other side of his brain with abstract acrylic work, often done in series.
For Eakin, one idea leads to another, in color, composition, style and mood. “I love both types of work – I don’t think I would ever give one up for the other,” explains the artist.
Eakin’s work may be found in numerous public, private and corporate collections and has been included in numerous group and invitational exhibits.
“I would like to thank Nancy Newhard-Farrar for asking me to be a part of the 2014 Alleghany Highlands Arts and Craft Center Annual Show,” said Eakin. “I consider it an honor to be this year’s judge of awards.
“Being a judge for an art show is a huge responsibility which I don’t take lightly,” he added. “I spent time looking at every work entered many times and the selections for awards was not easy. I tried to make my selections based on composition, placement of color, movement or flow of the piece as well as texture (visual or physical). I also believe that presentation and framing are a vital part of the finished piece along with placement and color of the signature.
“The works selected for awards are the ones I found had the most successful integration of all of the visual elements: shape, form, value, line and lolor along with workmanship.
“Congratulations to everyone who entered this show,” Eakin concluded. “There were many good works and narrowing down my choices was very difficult. Judging art is very subjective process and remember, it is only one person’s opinion at a given time. The awards selected are simply one person’s opinion on one particular day.
Participants in this year’s show include:
Arrington: Sam (Lisabeth) Snead; Blue Ridge: Kath-leen Deacon; Charlottes-ville: Grace Rinehart; Christiansburg: Yvonne Alderman; Clifton Forge: Norman Aberle, Martha Akers, Shirley Albright, Joan Allen, Lucy Cahoon, Deborah Derkotch, Michael Farrar, Allen Hickman, Nancy Newhard, Barbara Park, Mike Robinson, Karen Swoope.
Clintonville, W.Va.: Diane Mitchell; Covington: Libby Davis, Kyle Keyser, Jean Shepard, Judith Sivonda, Mary Jane Spencer, Ger-trude White; Eagle Rock: Lois McMullan; Greenville, W.Va.: Annabelle Rothe; Hot Springs: Courtney Horner; Lewisburg, W.Va.: Judie Lewis, Marietta Lyall; Lexington: Elizabeth Locher.
Monterey: Suse Field; Mc Dowell: Ginny Neil; Mt. Crawford: Kathy Waybright; Roanoke: Criis Chagnon, Susie Feinhour, Jane Winder Frank, J. Gail Geer, Myrtle Hooker, Mary Jane Meador, Michael Morris, Parvin Pejman, Joel Tucker, Bonnie Venable, Betty Williamson.
Rockbridge Baths: Elaine Norris; Ronceverte, W.Va.: Rose Dobbins; Salem: Cathy Cromer; Sweet Springs, W.Va.: Louise Chandler; Troutville: Judy Lochbrunner; Union, W.Va.: Brenja Doane, Joanne Frazier; Warm Springs: Perlista Henry.
“It is always a delight to welcome familiar artist- friends and see what new things they may be up to as evidenced by their work here,” said Newhard-Farrar. “This year we welcome several new artists, along with familiar faces tackling new media.
Each year the artists grow a bit and new ones take the leap of faith in themselves and the viewers that allows them to exhibit their work in public. That is no easy task, but we are all the richer for their determination. Congratulations to you all for this making this a great show for our viewers.
“Many thanks go to David Eakin for his work as judge,” she added. “It is a challenge to find someone with expertise in so many media, who also enjoys making tough choices. Eakin has a high level of expertise in most of these media, a sense of adventure and joy in exploring the art work of others that was a real asset in this endeavor.
“I also want to thank the installation crew: Madelyn Miler, Elizabeth Locher, Candy and John Barnes, and Lois McMullan for a challenging job well done.
“Don’t forget to vote for your favorite piece by writing the number and putting it in the box in the front part of the gallery,” she concluded. “We will announce the winner of the People’s Choice Award following the conclusion of the exhibit Nov. 18.”
