2nd Place
“Goldenrod”
by Beth Berry

Artist’s Statement
Represented by Gallery Sitka

When I first flew in an airplane, I was struck by the color, shapes, and shadows created by the light from the sun. The sun influenced everything, infusing the already rich palette of the landscapes and seascapes with what felt like a supernatural light. As the plane moved, the images seemed to move as well. The shapes bounced and swayed in their own rhythmic way.

This was all very exciting to me and the experience has informed my artwork ever since. Light, color, and movement are basic elements of all of my paintings.

My work has also been strongly influenced by the coastline of Massachusetts. I grew up there and have always felt tremendous happiness and excitement at the beach. Pleasure is a large part of my process and a critical part of the finished piece. My paintings are places of happiness.

3rd Place
“Sunrise in Noroton Heights”
by Helen Obermeyer Simmons

Artist’s CV

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art, Stephens College, Columbia, MO, 1977
Master of Fine Arts in Photography, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 1981

Professional Experience

Co-Curator and Exhibit Design, Harvest Art Exhibit, Darien Library Gallery, Darien, CT
Organized a group exhibit of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs by members of the Darien High School class of 1973. Corresponded with artists, juried artwork and installed exhibit  January – September 2018

Professor of Communications Media, Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA
Taught undergraduate courses in graphic design and photography. Served as a member of the gallery committee, promotions committee, and curriculum committee. Faculty advisor to Scrimshaw the university arts and literary publication and Visions the communications media honors exhibition. January 1981 – July 2016

Exhibit Director and Studio Artist, Rollstone Studios, Fitchburg, MA
Coordinated exhibits and programs for a collaborative artist’s studio space and gallery. January 2008 – September 2015

Best in Show
“Edge of Light, 2019”
by Angelique Luro

Artist’s Statement/Biography

Born and raised in Maine, Angelique has resided here for the majority of her life. Angelique is an empathic, intuitive, abstract artist who draws from her experiences as a mother, professional gardener, Reiki healer, and former yoga instructor. Discernment is at the forefront of the creative process for her. Inspired by the love of family, animals, and the natural world, she blends her innate knowledge of color, texture, and line, with curiosity and a sense of exploration, which results in engaging acrylic/ mixed media works. She currently lives on a small farm in southern Maine with her husband and their four equines, two dogs, and a cat.

Angelique’s work may be seen at The Art Center, Dover NH, The Art Coop in Kennebunk, ME, Gallery Sitka, Shirley, MA., the York Art Association, and the Kittery Art Association. She is a member of the York Art Association, (Exhibit York Library March 2020), the Kittery Art Association (Member Show March 2020) online exhibit ongoing, Lifting Spirits, and the Boothbay Region Art Association. Upcoming and past exhibits include Gallery Sitka Earth Day Show, April-June 2020, and currently The Art Center, Mixed Media Show July-August 2020.

Angelique has a BS in Graphic Design from Fitchburg State College, 1992. AS Business and Resource Management, University of Maine, 1985.

“Collection”
by Carolyn Todd

Artist’s Statement

Artist, Instructor, and Naturalist

I am inspired by my experiences with people, nature, wildlife, and conservation.

I was awarded an art scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Secondary Art Teaching Certificate. I also earned a Master of Arts in the Fine Arts and Art Education from the University of Houston.

My paintings, drawings, and illustrations are in private collections in the United States, Europe, and South America. I was selected to have solo shows in Temple, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas, Texas. I have been fortunate to exhibit with friends and art colleagues in group shows across Texas and Massachusetts.

I was proud to be selected as the “Artist in Residence” for the National Park Service, Amistad National Recreation Area near Del Rio, Texas. The solo show “El Cielo, Las Mesas y El Rio Diablo” was a great experience and attended by west Texas artists, teachers, Sul Ross State University-Rio Grande College staff, students, and faculty.

While living in Massachusetts beginning in 2016, I have taught art classes for the ALFA program at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg Art Museum, and the Creative Minds program/Seven Hills held at the Worcester Art Museum. I teach curriculum in drawing, colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and encaustic painting. I am also teaching classes via Zoom in colored pencil and drawing. Painting classes will be added very soon.

“Tree with a View”
by Colette Aline Shumate-Smith

Artist’s Statement/Biography
Represented by Gallery Sitka

Colette Aline Shumate-Smith was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Seattle. Her mother and Swedish relatives were artists. She decided early on to pursue a career in art and apprenticed with her mother. Through The Bob Hope Heart Institute, Colette’s early sculptures traveled the world when she was 21. A student of Jacob Lawrence, Howard Kottler, Patty Warashina, George Tsutakawa, and Glen Alps, Colette had many influences as she pursued her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Seattle at the University of Washington. In 1982 she went on to Boston University. While working on her Masters at the Program in Artistry at B.U., Colette was influenced by Chris Gustin, Richard Hirsh, and Nancy Smith.

Colette taught middle school art for 10 years. In 1993 she became an artist-in-residence with the Massachusetts Cultural Council State Artist Roster. She created many large murals in central Massachusetts, the most complex of which is at Squannacook Elementary School in Townsend and North West School in Leominster, her current hometown.

At Boston University she met David L. Smith. After graduation, they married, raised two children, and continued creating their art together for 27 years. Colette’s work is very unique, as she knows how to paint yet continues to break all rules of painting with her Ceramic Raku Art. It does not fit into a current art movement, yet seems to comment on all art movements at once. Cubist, Impressionist and printed painting collages are surreal and speak to the subconscious memory of a time yet to come. Her themes are commenting on the state of the world, yet her color choice is sweet and mysterious.

“Pumpkin Hunt, 2018”
by Dawn Haley Morton

Artist’s Biography
Represented by Gallery Sitka 

Dawn Haley Morton has had a camera in her possession since 7th grade. The novelty of shooting with the 110 camera and a ‘flip flash’ wore off and she got her first 35mm camera in 11th grade.

Dawnʼs work began as a form of self-expression. She has shown her work since 1985 at festivals and art shows. In 2007 and 2008, Dawnʼs work appeared in 2-person shows in Boston and Gardner, MA with her husband, painter Dug Morton.

Dawn published an annual calendar of her photographs from 2001-2015. It began as a wall calendar, moving later to a more intimate tabletop design.

While working full time in film and television production and raising their daughter with her husband Dug, Dawn has also worked as an event and portrait photographer. Whether itʼs a wedding, corporate event, or a high school senior portrait, Dawn enjoys capturing the world in a documentary style that is different from the commercial photographers.

Aside from traditional art venues, Dawn has moved into the digital realm and enjoys sharing lifeʼs moments on Instagram, a forum that truly represents her spirit and most prevalent style as a photographer.

“Pumpkin Melody”
by Linda Greenwood

“Guacamole” and “Peaches”
by Marika Hahn

Artist’s Statement

My artwork is inspired by nature and wildlife even though New York City is my home. I am passionate about creating my art with Watercolors. This medium defines my work. Exploring color, using brush strokes for shapes and patterns is both exciting and relaxing. Part of my Artist Statement has to include my belief in finding something meaningful in my life. Aside from creating my own work and teaching Watercolor Painting, I am a Creative Center Hospital Artist in Residence at Bellevue Bellevue Hospital and Mt Sinai Chelsea Cancer Center. I make art with both patients and their families.

New York is my home. I was born there. I graduated FIT for Fashion Illustration and took classes in Children’s Book Illustration at SVA. I live and work in this wonderful city. The city farmers’ markets provide me with the fruits, veggies, and flowers I love to paint. I like to use a graphic style for my artwork and that comes from my background as an illustrator.

I’ve done editorial illustrations for Hearst Publishing and Condé Nast as well as illustrating books for Simon & Schuster, Workman, Rodale Press, and Ballantine Books.

I have two grown children who are also artists.

“Risen IV, 2019”
by C.M. Judge

“Risen IV, 2019”
by C.M. Judge

Artist’s Statement/Biography

There is a moment when art begins to breathe and I completely forget that I’m the one who made it — this birthing releases the work to begin its work to seamlessly influence others.

My art-making, whether drawing, painting, video, or installation involves “prayerful illumination” — a kind of looking/feeling/being present to the miraculous world. My foot-ing or frame of reference is an extended gaze that perceives the interconnectedness of all things, the dignity of life, the confluence of the beautiful and the mundane. My art becomes a conduit for these intimate things. Painting is an exuberant way to bear witness; lush strokes of color in service to one’s gaze. About the Artist Intermedia artist, C. M. Judge, directs Moongate Studio in Fitchburg, MA where she creates drawings, paintings, and video installations. Focusing on the poetic confluences of body and spirit, Judge’s work has been exhibited worldwide. She holds a Master of Science in Visual Studies from M.I.T. Judge is a 2019 recipient of the Médaille D’Etain from the Socièté Académique Arts-Sciences-Lettres in Paris for excellence in art and positive contribution to society and the inaugural Present Tense Prize recognizing artwork that exemplifies new practices, artistic risk-taking, and excellence in execution from ArtsWorcester. Sharing creative process is one of Ms. Judge’s joys both as an art teacher at Sizer School and as a teaching artist working throughout New England specializing in facilitating collaborative public art projects involving groups of children, teens, adults, and elders. Locally, she mentored girls through Montachusett Opportunity Council to create the public art mural Speak Up! Speak Out! on Main Street in Fitchburg and in our nation’s capital, was the lead artist for the permanent public art project, HELLO & WELCOME, featuring artwork by 240 students from ten area schools for Dulles International Airport serving Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Ms. Judge’s advocacy work in the service of women artists includes co-founding Fem- Link-Art: the international video art collective with French video artist, Véronique Sapin. Featuring 149 women video artists from 64 countries, FemLink-Art is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary of bringing world-class video art to the public. Its history is documented in the book FemLink-Art: video collages of the International Collective. Judge has served the Women’s Caucus for Art on the national level as the Vice President of the Northeast Region and regionally as President of the Boston chapter and co-founder of the Central Massachusetts chapter with Joanne Boudreau.

“Ashburnham Road, Early Fall, 2019” and “Upper Meadow, Early Fall I, 2019”
by Susan Wadsworth

Artist’s Statement/Biography
Represented by Gallery Sitka

I was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1955. My parents moved to West Arlington, VT when my father retired, in 1971. They had met in Manchester VT many years earlier, and our family had always vacationed in Manchester until they bought the farmhouse in West Arlington. The rounded forms in my art often echo these New England hills and mountains. I married David Bourdelais in 1981, and we have had three children who are now grown.

I earned my B.A. in art from Colby College in Maine in 1977 with honors: Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude. I attended two graduate schools, earning an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI in painting in 1981 and a M.A. in art history from Tufts in 1989. My specialty is modern abstraction, both in my own work and in historical analysis. I am usually inspired by the landscapes of the places I live and visit.

I began teaching at Fitchburg State in Massachusetts in 1992, moving to Rindge, NH in 1993. As a professor, I taught studio art and a wide range of art history: from modernism and the history of architecture to Asian art and interdisciplinary courses. I have presented over three dozen papers and published over one hundred art reviews over 30 years.

I have been exhibiting my pastel works broadly throughout New England and upstate NY. In 2008, I organized the Fall Foliage Art Studio Tour in the Monadnock Region, and it continues to this day over Columbus Day weekend, with the exception of cancellation in fall 2020 due to Covid-19.

I am represented by Gallery Sitka of Shirley, Massachusetts.