Judge, jury and ribbon bestower

I judged that show today! It was sorta fun even though it took a lot longer than I thought it would. Part of the problem was there was no clear distinction with what the categories were going to be. I guess in the end it doesn't matter too much since no one gets anything but the recognition.

I had my favorite piece actually picked out in the first 5 minutes. It was a mixed media project, which sort of surprised me because it's not usually my thing. But this piece was amazing. The artist used dried flowers in conjunction with watercolor to set up this scene. So cool. The whole thing was monochromatic, and even though the theme dwelt more with gardens gardens, the browns just stood out to me. Haha, possibly because there was color belching all around it. I don't know. It reminded me of an old-school storybook. Or a sepia toned photograph or illustration brought to life. Really impressive stuff. I'll have to see if I can take a pic of it, though not sure if you're allowed to do that in a gallery...

I wound up selecting 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for Oil/Acrylic, Watercolor/Pastel, and Mixed Media. Also chose an honorable mention in the first 2 categories. I was told one of the people I bumped down to honorable mention for a pastel always won awards. I had actually kept him off my list the first few times around because his piece was what some like to call "bathroom art." It was very good, don't get me wrong. But it didn't have the same life as some of the other pieces.

The president of the association walked in when I was finishing up and started talking to the woman who was recording my selections. I had walked to the other side of the gallery when I saw her point to a piece I chose. His response was a rather loud, "Reeeally?" Hahaha it was funny until I thought, "Shit, here we go," but then I decided, "So what? I'm the judge, am I not?"

The reception is next Saturday. Think I'll probably head over and check it out. And see what kind of waves were stirred up by my ribbons.