Community Service Award for Fern Christian

Renaissance Art Gallery Director, Fern Christian, with Kathy Hollet, was honored with  TSAA’s Community Service award at their 2013 Christmas Dinner.  Both of these strong women have served on TSAA's board of Directors, served as president, and have literally spent thousands of hours on countless committees to support TSAA's mission and its membership.

 

Fern and Kathy are the first recipients of TSAA's Community  Service Award. Recipients of the award must have a minimum of 10 years of uninterrupted membership and community service in the association to be eligible for this award.  Both Fern and Kathy have far exceeded these minimums and set the bar high for future award recipients.

 

A member of Tri-State Artists Association since 1968, Fern has been supportive of artists in the Tri-State area and is the founder and director of an artist-cooperative gallery, the Renaissance Art Gallery. She also teaches painting on Monday mornings from 10:00 am until noon.

Kathy has worked tirelessly whether she is mentoring new members, teaching, or writing grants. Fern has spend over a decade building the Renaissance Gallery for local (coop)artists. The Renaissance gallery hosts a national show which brings art from all over the United States and abroad to the Tri-State region.

http://tristatearts.webs.com/

 

The Renaissance Art Gallery

900 8th Street, Suite #20

Huntington, WV 25701

 

Gallery (304) 525-3235

Appointments: (304) 453-3187

gallerywv@yahoo.com

www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance

 

 

Elaine Hahn - People's Choice Award

The Renaissance Art Gallery is happy to announce the winner of the 13th Annual National Miniature Exhibition’s People’s Choice Award

 

This year the visitors and patrons of the Renaissance Art Gallery have chosen Elaine Hahn’s “Sunset Glow” as their favorite miniature. This is truly an outstanding work, of great vision and depth. Although only 1 inches wide by 4 inches long, this work draws the eye. "Sunset Glow" is an oil painting done on copper plate. Elaine is a resident of Holiday, Florida

Elaine is a resident of Holiday, Florida and has been a regular participant in the Renaissance Art Gallery’s Miniature Exhibition.

 

Some of the comments from ballots for the people’s choice award:

 

“Waves show incredible detail along with white sea foam. The sun’s refection also show rippling effect.”~ Guest’s comments

 

“So much beauty in such a small space! Excellent!” ~ Guest Comment

 

Each year we are able to present the best in miniature art and it is a privilege to host this show. ~ The Renaissance Art Gallery.

13th Annual National Miniature Exhibition Winner's List 2013



Winners List 2013

Juror Jenine Culligan

 

Complimentary Award (4)
 

 

Hossein Fallahi – Rose of Esfaham – 12A

Ted Daubresse – One More Time from the Top – 30B

Sue Wall – Pure Affection – 31B

Yvonne James – Milady – 10A

 

 

 

Honorable Mention (3)

 

Carol Rockwell – The Stand Off – 27C

Ronnie Cramer – Ice Skater – 28C

Melinda Fabian – Crab on Deck – 54A

 

 

Merit Award (2)

 

Akiko Watanabe – Mr. Hercule – 8A

Lena Leitzke – San Diego – 23A

1^st Place (shared) These two works made it impossible to select one over the other,

thus the shared 1^st Place:

 

 

Janet Palmer – Swirling Waters – 1A

Janet Laird-Lagassee – Matchless - 18A 

 

 

Award of Excellence:

Judith Edgington Bayes – Grandpa’s Apples – 24B

There is one last award, and this one will not be selected until the end of the Exhibition, it is our People's Choice Award.

Each year art lovers who visit the Annual National Miniature Exhibition at the Renaissance Art Gallery cast their votes on what they feel is the most outstanding miniature in the show. This year we have added a space for comments to this ballot. We will be sharing these comments as we review the show daily in our Renaissance Art Gallery Blog.



Encaustic Miniatures



Encaustic Miniatures by Fern Christian

 

 

These pieces represent a new media to the Renaissance Art Gallery’s Annual Miniature Exhibition. The use of Encaustics. While an ancient medium it is currently undergoing a revival with new technicalities. It is, in the words of artist Fern Christian, “the most fun you can have with an iron!” 

 



"Red & White"
Encaustic painting
Susan Tschantz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic_painting

 

 

The Renaissance Art Gallery has held several workshops to re-introduce this media to the area and this year featured works in encaustics.

 

Fern Christian has employed a small iron as both pallet and brush to create swirls of abstract color. Her work invokes strong moods, “Storm Gathering”, Fantasy Fly” and “Day of Delight” describes feeling. Artist Susan Tschantz takes a more traditional approach with hot wax and a brush in “Red & White” and “Vase on Green”.

Encaustic proved to be a very popular medium. Many visitors were completely fascinated with the introduction of this medium this year.

"Red & White" and "Vase on Green"
Encaustic Paintings
Susan Tschantz

 

Drawing Fine Art in Miniature

"Music in the Air"
Colored Pencil
Kath Pollack

While paintings are in the majority, entries in the 13th Annual National Miniature Exhibition also include many fine art mediums in addition to paintings. We have sculptures and wood burning. Encaustic and scratchboard. Paper cutting and collage as well as different textile art.

 

Being a card-carrying member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, (http://www.cpsa.org/)  and the drawing teacher at the Renaissance Art Gallery, I am naturally drawn to those works done with some sort of pencil or pen, or in the case of scratchboard, stylist.

 



"Peek-a-Moo"
Colored Pencil
Nancy Garcia

"Red Pears"
Colored Pencil
Susan Tschantz

We have a wealth of these works this year.

 

 

"Firework Flower"
Colored Pencil
Susan Tschantz

Many of which more than one person thought were oil paintings. Some like Kath Pollack of Dunedin, FL have such a gentle touch that many believed her drawings were watercolors.

 

"Pennsylvania Covered Bridge"
scratchboard
Dolores Andrew

Yvonne James of Palm Harbor, FL won a complimentary award with her amazing drawing of hat of all things! Finely drawn and detailed. Although he won a Merit Award for “Mr. Hercule”, a painting done in acrylic, his “Study of Gorilla” done in graphite to me is much more intriguing. The gorilla’s eyes seem to look right at you.

So here are just some of the drawings submitted to the Renaissance Art Gallery's 13th Annual National Miniature Exhibition.

 

When it come to drawing you cannot forget the whimsical and colorful felt pen drawing of Don Watts. Don has been drawing in Huntington, WV for quite some time and always has a different take on things.

 

One truly outstanding colored pencil painting is Lenore Long Lancaster, of Ridgeley, WV. Her Mountain Path seems to come right off the paper.

 

It is always fascinating to see just what people come up with in miniature art, and the variety of media is part of the fascination.



"Flowing Colors"
Felt-tip pens
Don Watts

"Mountain Path"
colored Pencil
Lenore Long Lancaster

Linda Rossin

Another artist who has been featured in this show is Linda Rossin. Each year she amazes us with what she is able to do with paint. Her paintings never seem small or cramped but always gives us a feeling of space. Linda paints in acrylics. Her attention to detail extends to her presentation, which is always excellent and professional

 

 

 

"Little Big Man"
 Linda Rossin

 

"Realistic detail, depth. Like the use of color shadows, reflections, lighting & texture." ~ Guest Comment

 

Nancy Garcia

"Ladies Only" 

 

This whimsical painting by Nancy Garcia is developing into a favorite.

"Ladies Only"
Nancy Garcia

"Love the whimsy in all of Nancy Garcia’s paintings Whether she is painting is oils or drawing with colored pencils, Nancy Garcia shows a real talent for charm in her paintings. All her works shows this familiarity with a strong sense of humor!"

 

~ Susan Tschantz, Renaissance Artist

 

Each of her paintings show a find attention to detail and to the life of the animals that populate her artwork.

"It is so cute!" ~ Guest Comment

 

 

 

 

"I am naturally drawn to artwork done in colored pencil. I teach drawing after all. Here Nancy shows a complete mastery of the medium, and an understanding of how the colored pencil has changed, matured as a medium over the years. I also love the way the cow is looking out of the picture plane and into our world!"

~ Susan Tschantz

 

 

 

Wayne Chunat

 

"The Chase is On"
Wayne Chunat
 

Drama.

 

This word really describes Wayne Chunat’s paintings. All Three works, “Chase is on”, “Jump” and “Tiger, Tiger” have strong dramatic impact on viewers. The action in “The Chase is On” makes it the outstanding piece of the three.

 

 

 

Wayne paints with acrylics but there is nothing fast about his artwork. In the true sense of the word, these are miniatures, well constructed and full of detail. Both paintings have life, as if the animals have been captured in action.

Wayne is a member of Nature Artists. You can see more of his work here:

http://www.natureartists.com/wayne_chunat.asp

 

"Tiger-Tiger"
Wayne Chunat

 

Elaine Hahn & Sunset Glow

 

"Sunset Glow" Oil on Copper by  Elaine Hahn

 

[Comments from ballots for the people’s choice award:]

 

 

 

“Waves show incredible detail along with white sea foam. The sun’s refection also show rippling effect.”~ Guest’s comments

 

“So much beauty in such a small space! Excellent!” ~ Guest Comment






Elaine used an unusual surface for her oil painting. Copper. she does show her master of this surface and of oil painting. 

 

 This is a tiny painting, 1" x 4". But it does not feel small! Looking at it, you get the sense of the wide ocean.