There were 23 artists who competed in the annual art adjudication, hosted by the Weyburn Arts Council at the Signal Hill Arts Centre. The winners of the adjudication were Sabrina Kraft in first, Max Himsl who took second and Deanna Pearce-Colbow placing third.
It was a great honour for Kraft to be selected first place overall at the adjudication. “Honestly, I am still in disbelief. But it is a great feeling to know that my artwork had touched their lives, and that the adjudicators found the pieces to be powerful and a very bold statement.”
Kraft had completed some self-portraits of different emotional aspects of her life. The photography project delved deeper into her own mental health, as she explored the many different emotional reactions that she has experienced on a daily basis.
When asked by one of the adjudicators if it had been difficult to display the self-portraits, Kraft had noted that it had required a lot of inner strength and support from her family, friends and other artists in the community.
“For me, the five pieces displayed during the adjudication are just the tip of the iceberg of what I want to have displayed one day. Now that I have heard the amazing comments from the adjudicators, and others who had attended the art gala, about how much they enjoyed seeing the photos — I am looking forward to showcasing a larger exhibit sometime in the future.”
“I truly love photography. It is becoming more and more a very expressive art form for many others in our community. I am often awed by some of the pieces on display by fellow photographers and other artists. It is very overwhelming to have all these amazing artists who I admire tell me that they were awed by my own work.”
Himsl had some very unique sculptures on display for the adjudication. “I combined wood and metal, painted with oil paints. It is something I have been doing now for about six years.”
“They keep on getting more significant and I enjoy making them. I also enjoy seeing the look on other people’s faces when they look at them,” he chuckled.
He felt very thrilled to be selected second place in the adjudication, but admitted that his initial reaction was not knowing what had happened. “At first, I thought they were still mentioning the honourable mentions.”
“The adjudicators were very informative and provided some very good feedback,” said Himsl. The adjudicators had spoke about each artists’ submissions during a private gathering with the artists before the public reception.
Pearce-Colbow spoke candidly about how she faced a ‘painters block’ right before the adjudicated show. “I had visions in my head about things I wanted to do, but when I went into my home studio, nothing seemed to work. I looked at some of the acrylic and oil I was working on and it just wasn’t coming together. I felt really quite discouraged. So I hoped and prayed for some kind of inspiration to come to me.”
She found her inspiration online, after finding an artist’s online tutorial about applying oil pastels layer-on-layer. “I challenged myself to give this new medium a shot. So then I asked myself what shall I do for the five pieces required? What brings me peace and contentment?”
The answer to her questions was the theme of ‘Mother Nature’. “I liked the way the pastel went onto the special paper, the sound it made, the way it felt. When I came to the final stroke on the fifth piece I had used almost all the colours in the 96-piece set. All five pieces were scenes from areas near my home of Weyburn. Most pieces were named after my immediate family,” said Colbow-Pearce.
Honourable mentions were awarded to Stephanie Paslowski and Sydney Schultz.The annual adjudication is an opportunity for artists to get feedback from professional adjudicators, often geared on how to take their art to the next level. This year, the adjudicators were Monique Martin and Robert Truszkowki.
As the top three winners of the 2017 art adjudication, Kraft, Himsl and Pearce-Colbow will have a shared art exhibit on display in April of 2018.
