Monday, March 06, 2023

Gold Medal Show - 2023




Ed Zawacki, Thinking of Home


My choice for the gold medal, 
this is more about how a 
comforting cup of coffee (with spoon handle) feels 
than how it looks.

A worthy update of  this old master painting





Stuart Fullerton, Arroyo Seco


I was about to quickly walk right past this one,
as I did most pieces in the show,
when I noticed that little green bush smack in center.

This piece is much more about organizing a painting than recording desert flora.




Muriel Christensen, Protocol 

I wish she had been kinder to Michelangelo's drawing,
but this piece has a wonderful sense of space, light, color, and character
in the crowd standing before it.

It buzzes and gleams with excitement.



Ed Traisman,  Shelby Garden

Cute, cute, cute.

But that’s OK — this is a celebration of recreational art
and that’s what the Palette is often about.



Del Hall, Mary Qian painting Jesse


This was out in the hall - not in the exhibit.
And it’s a photograph, not a painting.

But were it otherwise, I’d give it the gold medal.

A great shot of Mary doing a demo
(The heads of the onlookers are facing her at the bottom)

*******


Steve Puttrich, Winter in Blue and Gold

Here’s the piece that actually won the Gold Medal
as well as the People’s Choice.
It feels a bit soggy to me,
and I feel trapped in those woods.


Debra Balchen, Circe

This piece won Second Place.
It was on its way to being a nice head
but it got lost in all its crumpled accessories 

Pat Brutchin, Strength in the Face of Adversity

This piece won an Honorable Mention.
It feels Hellenistic
but not the kind I’d like to find in a museum.
It’s primary quality is narrative
and I like the idea of an old guys winning
despite the adversity of just being old.

Val Yachik, Red Ribbon

Another winner of Honorable Mention.
Definitely not the feel-good subject that mostly fills our galleries,
but not all that dark and scary either.
Just kind of depressing.







 

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