International Art Competition Winner, “Summer Days”
Today I’m happy and honored to announce that the painting Summer Days has been selected as a winner in the 2015 international competition “Best of Acrylic,” for publication in next year’s book Acrylic Works 3: Celebrating Texture, to be published by North Light Books, a division of F+W Media. This event is part of a series of annual competitions run by this publisher, aimed at highlighting the work of acrylic painters, working with various techniques across a range of subjects.
It’s wonderful to look through these books and enjoy the variety of artworks both realistic and abstract. I expect this year’s installment will be published sometime in early 2016. When I say it’s an honor to be included, I really mean that. Some of the work in these volumes is truly stunning. The books are typically available in hard cover, or as e-books.
Summer Days is a painting which, consistent with the competition’s theme, celebrates texture. From the rough canyon stones to the foxes’ hair, from the strands of grass to the monarch’s wings, the dynamics of this composition depend on variations in texture. Of course I hope the overall effect goes beyond the textures alone. This work was made with a casual nod to Aesop’s fables, considering the anthropomorphic look at two young foxes at play, as though they were children. The butterfly’s teasing the two kits opens our imaginations to the possible outcome and even some moral to be learned from the story! But mostly this is a work of wildlife art, reflecting the souls of our animal counterparts in a moment of carefree joy.
It’s been a privilege to have painted this artwork as part of a series of wildlife pieces. For having it recognized publicly with other works in the same medium, I’m truly grateful. I hope you have a chance to check out the book when it comes out next year.