He's Gone Abstract!

I needed to test out my theory about the judging of artwork at the Clark County fair. In previous years they've usually preffered the modern styles of painting, so I decided to try it myself. As many of you know, our family went down to CA recently for our grandpa's memorial service, and on the way we visited the giant sequoias along the coast. For some reason, I took a photo of one tree's bark, and since it was in shadow the camera compensated for the lack of light and ended up taking a blurry picture. What a great subject for a semi-abstract painting! Here's the finished piece which I call, "Timeless--Giant Sequoia." We got a neat kinda' greenish and brown frame for it, and I actually think I like it...maybe. :)

After the people at the fair accidently entered it in the "Hobbies and Crafts" department instead of "Fine Arts," it ended up getting 2nd place (along with countless other 2nd placers...) Not bad considering the realistic oil painting (below) I put in a few years back just got honorable mention.

Anyway, there were still many pieces with merit, but it's obvious that art in our culture is generally just getting worse.

As a side note, I don't really have a problem with abstract, but I think a lot more can be communicated by what's called 'representative art.' For us realists though, it's fun to occasionally forget all the rules and let our creativity run wild... :)

EDIT: Chelsea's horse drawing actually got Superintendent's Choice, she essentially won the adult competition! Now that's cool. :) In my defense, they don't label the paintings with special awards right away, so I couldn't tell the Saturday before last.