PAT STANFIELD (right) accepted her award from Battle Ground Mayor Shane Bowman for first place in the 2D category at the Battle Ground Art Alliance Art Show and Sale.
VISITORS HAD A chance to view over 200 works of art, bid on donated artwork in a silent auction and raffle, and enjoy appetizers and wine during the reception at the Battle Ground Art Alliance Art Show and Sale on March 21 at the Battle Ground Community Center.
Art Show Award winners
2D Awards:
3D Awards:
BATTLE GROUND – Two hundred and three pieces of artwork on display made this year’s Annual Art Show and Sale, sponsored by the Battle Ground Art Alliance, the largest show to date.
The art show was held at the Battle Ground Community Center on March 21 and 22, along with a silent auction and raffle for donated art pieces to raise funds for BGAA.
Julie Olsen of Washougal won the Best in Show award for her pastel drawing “Spirit.” Many viewers stopped to examine the fine detail and ask about her technique. The detail and subtle shadings in one pastel drawing can require three months of work, Olsen said, with 20 to 40 layers of pastel chalk. This isn’t the first time Olsen has entered the BGAA show; last year her pastel drawing “Barn Horse” received the People’s Choice Award.
Barbara Garrison, of Battle Ground, stopped to tell Olsen, “It was your piece last year that inspired me to take a class in pastels, and it was like coming home. I love to work with them.”
Olsen has also entered her artwork in the Clark County Fair for the past eight years, where she has received numerous awards. Her images of horses “are a little girl thing,” said Olsen. “I’ve just always loved horses.”
Elaborate carved and painted gourds are Diane Springer’s artistic medium. Her piece “Floral Paths Gourd” was a favorite of visitors and won the People’s Choice Award. Springer, of Battle Ground, said she first learned to create carved gourds twenty years ago in a class offered through the Extension Service.
“They were popular back then,” she said.
In the years that followed she continued to learn and refine her technique through books, videos, and YouTube. Springer purchases gourds which have been harvested and dried for at least a year from suppliers in eastern Washington, California, and Arizona.
The gourds grown in this area, she says, are too thin shelled for her projects. Each gourd is unique, since they are grown naturally. After she selects a gourd for her project, she draws her design in pencil and then carves it with a fine saw and a dremel tool. She applies colors such as shoe polish and paint, and adds fine details with a wood burning tool.
After the design is finished it is protected with a coat of acrylic. Springer doesn’t limit her creativity to gourds; she also created a framed patchwork of origami for this year’s show. “That’s how artists are, they’re always trying new things,” Springer said.
This year’s art show included a theme interpretation titled “The Spaces in Between.” Thirty nine pieces of art were entered in the theme category, and the award for Best Interpretation of Theme was given to Julie Koch for her piece “Fragile.”
Koch creates recycled art using found vessels and discarded glass fragments, beads, and metal objects. She finds her art materials in some unlikely places. One time she found a supply of old glass in a barn, she said, and shoveled it out in a wheelbarrow. Her winning entry was designed to “bring awareness of the fragility of ocean life,” said Koch.
Koch began creating recycled art 12 years ago, after taking a class through Creative Arts Community in Portland. She has entered the BGAA show for the past three years.
Every year brings something new, said Cheryl Hazen, president of BGAA. One of this year’s entries was a tufa pot planted with succulent plants, the first of its type for the show. The Battle Ground Community Center was brimming with ceramics, sculptures, paintings, drawings, jewelry, photography, and other media.
A reception on Saturday evening, March 21, offered refreshments, wine by the glass, and a chance to mingle with the artists. Mayor Shane Bowman presented awards for artists in 2D and 3D categories, Best of Show, and awards sponsored by local businesses including Curves, General Federation of Women's Club, Last Tangle, Mill Creek Pub, Northwood Public House and Brewery, and Old Town Burger and Breakfast.
