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William F. Draper Grand Prize & People's Choice Award
Sponsored by Jack Richeson & Co,
American Art Collector, Turtlewood Palettes and Portrait Society
Bryce Billings
West Jordan, Utah
A
Father’s Dream and a Son’s Love,
36" x 48", Oil
"This is a self portrait of me and my son. We are standing
together in front of an ominous cloudy background, representing hard times we
had been through and a cloudy unclear future, as I set forward on a path to
pursue my dreams. I am wearing construction clothes and carpentry bags to
represent the profession I had been trained to do from the time I was a child
by my own father. My son is standing on a saw horse which holds the hammer I
have symbolically laid down. My son and I hold outward expressions of weariness
yet between the two of us there is an unbreakable and unspoken bond of love."
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First
Place Painting
Sponsored by HK
Holbein, American Art Collector, Signilar Art Videos, PanPastel, Martin F./Weber Company,
Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Tony Pro
Westlake Village, California
Last
Train Home, 36" x 65", Oil
"My painting, Last Train
Home was a scene that I witnessed in Dijon, France returning from a
European Painting trip a few years ago. It was an early sunrise waiting by the
train tracks for the last train we were taking to Paris. The Pat Metheney song Last Train Home was in my head the whole time so it was inspired by
that.
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First Place Sculpture
Sponsored by The
Artist’s Magazine, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Alicia Ponzio
San Francisco, California
In
Recent Days, A Self Portrait,
23" x 10" x 10”, Plaster
"In Recent Days is a
self-portrait. I worked from life, using a 3 way mirror on hinges.
The original model was created in water-based clay on a wooden armature, I then
cast it in plaster. This is my 3rd self portrait. My last one was called What Was. It described a period
in my life when I was thinking heavily about my past experiences and how they
had shaped me, how I had reacted, and coming to terms with them. In 2013, I began In
Recent Days, 6 years later, as a response to What Was. I've had some
difficult experiences since my last portrait, experiences which have helped me
grow and ultimately have given me confidence. I find myself now questioning
things a little more often, being more realistic about myself, and being more
interested in looking outside myself to connect with others."
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Second Place
Sponsored by Studio
Incamminati, Winsor & Newton, Silver Brush Limited, Fredrix Artists Canvas,
M. Graham & Company, Atlantic Papers, Blick, Turtlewood Palettes, and
Portrait Society
Jeffrey Hein
Salt Lake City, Utah
Cold,
20" x 16", Oil
"My portrait is
of one of my former students. Her face has always inspired me. It is full of
emotion as she tends to hold her feelings very close to the surface. The
painting is really about color and the juxtaposition of warms and cools. I find
color to be a powerful tool for expression. I've always found drawing
people more interesting than other subjects. I love the challenge for one but I
also love the feeling of bringing a face to life on canvas. It's like
magic."
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Third Place
Sponsored by Studio
Incamminati, Natural Pigments, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Kelly Carmody, Waltham, Massachusetts
Self Portrait, 36" x 65", Oil on canvas
"This painting
is a self portrait and was the final
piece in a series of standing figures I did for an exhibition at The Art
Students League this past fall. I needed a final subject and I didn't
have anyone in mind for the fifth painting. A self portrait seemed to make
sense. The first portrait I did in the series was of my old painting teacher
(who is still a wonderful teacher and now also a dear friend) so a self
portrait seemed like a good way to round out the series. I decided to do
a profile because I think it made the head a stronger shape and I didn't want
it to be about me so much as the shapes that make up a painting."
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Fourth Place
Sponsored by RayMar
Art, Gamblin Artists Colors, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Aron Belka, New
Orleans, Louisiana
Untitled, 60"
x 48", Oil on canvas
"The girl in the painting was with her family at a local music
festival here in New Orleans. I had
recently been exploring ideas to paint large contemporary portraits, putting
special emphasis on the residents of New Orleans, and I knew right away that
she would fit into those ideas. I think
her hair inspired me the most…it was easy to imagine it sweeping across a large
canvas. But her candid look was
also very significant. Like all artists I am continually seeking out
fresh ideas and new information in order to allow my methods plenty of room to
evolve and change. I would say my 'art
training' is ongoing."
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Fifth Place
Sponsored by
Ampersand Art Supply, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
TJ Cunningham, Pensacola, Florida
Reluctance,
24 x 48", Oil on linen
"My friend Hanna, the subject of my portrait, and I grew up
together. She has always been willing and eager to model, for free, which means
that this painting is one of many! This painting began as a small sketch in my
backyard last April while Hanna was visiting my wife and me in Florida. The
inspiration to turn the study into a large studio piece was multifaceted. I
wanted to successfully paint my friend’s profile and also, Hanna’s fair skin
looked so striking against the dark foliage that it brought to mind John
Sargent’s portrait of Madame Gautreau. However, it was the mood of the
light and her pose that inspired me most. With the line of Frost’s poem in my
head “The heart is still aching to seek, but the feet question ‘Whither?’, I
named this piece Reluctance.”
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First Honor Award
Sponsored by
Rosemary Brushes, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Seth Haverkamp, Andersonville, Tennessee
Ponderings,
24" x 36", Oil on board
"The young lady in Ponderings is Cameron. From the first moments upon meeting her I was struck by
her enthusiasm and poise. The pose
for this painting came about after I called for a five minute break. Cameron immediately lowered her head, while
the rest of her remained as it was from the previous pose. She stayed this way
for many moments. The whole thing struck me as very real. Physically, she was resting, but mentally it
appeared to me as though she was thinking weighty thoughts. I sat there and watched, as I often do during
breaks, waiting for the perfect moment. Art is the only thing I have
ever been interested in, I chose
portraiture because for me there is just nothing more interesting. Not only the physical properties of a face
but also the intrigue of looking at a finished portrait and wondering about
that person. Who they are? What they are
doing or thinking, and why?"
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Second Honor Award
Sponsored by Gamblin
Artists Colors, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Adam Clague,
Liberty, MO
Knitter’s Gift, 30" x 30", Oil on linen
"My model for this painting is
a very grown-up 9-year-old from our church. She is an aspiring artist and
enjoys being part of the painting process. My wife and I love to paint her because
of her sweet personality and her willingness to model. My initial inspiration was the idea to use
the yarn to create a flowing rhythm. Further inspiration came from the
temperature variety in the whites, the personality of the model, and the beautiful
sunlight streaming through the window that day. People have always been my
favorite subjects. My first 'portrait commission' was at age 9, when my
grandfather paid me $20 to draw my grandmother. I’ve always enjoyed the
challenge of capturing a likeness and I find continual inspiration in the
beauty of everyday settings."
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Third Honor Award
Sponsored by
Signilar Art Videos, Turtlewood Palettes, and Portrait Society
Olga Krimon,
Hermosa Beach, California
Ania, 24"
x 24”, Oil on linen
"My model is Ania, a nanny for
my 2 sons, and practically a member of the family. Ania has that graceful calm beauty that I
wanted to convey. My idea was to make a
composition where the still life was almost as important as the figure
itself. I aimed for an arrangement where
every piece had its purpose. The
candlestick repeats the shape of the face, the movement through the arm of the
sitter is enhanced through a similar curve of the table, the fingers continue
through the book edge. Ania almost
morphs into this table. So it was conceived as a harmonious arrangement that
moves the eye around and back into it.
And within it the play of textures was important – the fabric, the skin,
the transparency of the wood. In using
an old Georgian candlestick and my family’s old Russian gold-plated cup it made
it a nostalgic piece for me. This is a
contemporary girl, but I wanted to make it a timeless piece, to remind me of
the Russian paintings I so admired back in childhood. The best part was that I was able to complete
it from life. It’s a very rewarding
experience, and cannot even compare to using photo references."
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