The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE - With 94 entries from 45 regional artists, the 38th Annual Fall Festival Art Show, is currently on view at the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center in Clifton Forge.
Because of a chance in the make up of the show, each piece has room to breathe and can been seen without crowding.
The show includes paintings in oils, acrylics and watercolors as well as original fiber art, drawing and mixed media/collage.
The show will continue through noon Nov. 20. Still to be awarded is the People’s Choice, an award voted on by the visitors to the exhibit during the run of the show.
Awards are as follows:
Best in Show: Quiet Time, Judie Lewis, Lewisburg, W.Va.
Virginia Fraser Memorial Award: Mountain Stream, Myrtle Hooker, Roanoke.
Oil/Acrylic: First Place, His Sacrifice/Our Pardon, Steve Mullins, Roanoke. Honorable Mention: Grandmama’s Thimble, Debbie Duncan, Salem.
Watermedia: First Place, Baskets, Myrtle Hooker, Roanoke. Honorable Mention: Young Sheep, Judy Skeen, Monterey.
Mixed Media/Collage: First Place, Echo & Sway II, Michael Farrar, Clifton Forge. Honorable Mention: Firestorm, Joan Allen, Clifton Forge.
Fiber: First Place, The Dandy, Beverly Luhrs, Bedford. Honorable Mention: Whirlwind Lives, Elizabeth Locher, Lexington.
Drawing: First Place, End of Day, Rose Dobbins, Ronceverte, W.Va. Honorable Mention: 4-Wheelin’ – 50’s Style, Marietta Lyall, Lewisburg, W.Va.
Graphics: First Place, Heavy Cream, Bridget Stec, Covington.
The judge for this year’s exhibit was Marsha Heatwole, a Lexington artist who works in a variety of paint and printmaking and sketches regularly. Her exhibition and award credentials are substantial and she has produced two children’s books.
Marsha has been an artist since she was six, a self-sustaining one for more than 30 years. Her first response to the exhibit was, “Ohhhhhhhh, this is going to be way difficult – no, no, that is a good thing.”
She continued, “Judging this Fall Festival show is an honor for me. I try to look at all kinds of art work at every opportunity.
“I am always pleased to look at other’s work and try to figure out how they did something that catches my attention. I think it is important for us as artists to keep looking at one another’s efforts, dissest and analyze them, and whenever we can, ask questions. It is a good way to learn. I worry when I don’t see artists doing that.
“What I look for is engagement on the part of the artist – work his or her subject matter and materials – something that shows me that they loved doing it. I also look for things that engage the viewer. A strong composition is essential. How does the image hit the edges of the picture plane – or is it just dropped into the middle? How have they used their materials and how to they manipulate them? It’s great when something seems to just grow off the surface rather than just being applied on top of it.
“This is particularly true in the piece selected for Best in Show. It is very sweet, not in a sentimental way but in way the pastel was used to evoke the feeling of the piece and delineate the sheep. In a “Mountain Stream,” (which won the Virginia Frasier Award) I found the sense of energy and movement very interesting. Congratulations to everyone that entered. It is always a challenge to present work and a compete. But you have done it and it’s a very nice show. Keep looking,” she said.
Other participants in the exhibit include: Clifton Forge: Shirley Albright, Allen Hickman, Barbara James, Helen Kostel, Nancy Newhard, Ruth Powell, Mike Robinson, Catherine Smith and Patricia Williams.
Covington: Wynona Crush, Libby Davis, Barbara Park, Judith Albele Sivonda, Mary Jane Spencer and Richard Terrell.
Iron Gate: Lucy Cummings, Melanie Payne-White.
Eagle Rock: Lois McMullan, Hot Springs: Courtney Horner, Allison Kincaid.
Warm Springs: Jane Reynolds Lyle, Sarah Williams.
McDowell: Renee Vandevander.
Rockbridge Baths: Dorothy Coker, Carole Jean Figlo.
Goshen: Melinda Mann.
Troutville: Linda Prillaman.
Salem: Debbie Duncan.
Roanoke: Martha Akers.
Greenville, W.Va.: Annabell Rothe.
In addition to these awards, the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center would like to encourage everyone who has not seen the show to visit and vote for their favorite piece for the People’s Choice Award, which will be announced at the conclusion of the show Nov. 20.
“Response to the call for works for Fall festival last year was so overwhelming that we exceeded our space for the show in the old format,” said Nancy Newdard-Farrar, executive director of the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center.
Because much of the work was photography, the Arts and Crafts Center has initiated an all-photography exhibit called “fx2, Regional Photography from the Alleghany Highlands.” This exhibit, designed to run from Nov. 23 to noon Dec. 29, will encourage traffic by Thanksgiving and Christmas visitors home for the holidays, as well as everyone else and celebrate the work of our area photographers.
“The fx2 exhibit follows the same rules as the Fall Festival Art Show. Prizes will be awarded in several categories by a judge whose specialty is photography.
Entry forms are available at the Arts and Crafts Center and through the newly-formed Alleghany Highlands Camera Club,” Newhard-Farrar said.
The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center is located at 439 E. Ridgeway Street, Clifton Forge, and is open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
