Ventura County Arts Council — Call to Artists! Recharge | Online Entry Deadline Dec. 31

First Place

Color Flow (Blue to Red)

Andy Lepe

Acrylic on wood, 19 x 16 inches

$ 950

Judge’s comment: excellently executed, incredibly subtle, profound effect.  Overall a fantastic value study.

Biography: Clarity comes from the art of slowing down. Tapping into the gentle rhythmic stream of harmonizing creative thoughts has helped to develop my mindset through a practice I call “Color Flow”.

My style combines Hard-edge painting, Color-field art, Opt art and Color flow. My subject matter is the abstract concept of energy that flows through us, surrounds us, and gives us life. I find it exciting to depict our vibes/ human energy fields through color which represents our own unique frequencies and are usually felt and not seen.

Slowing down and seeking that calming flow, the goal of my art is to evoke an uplifting positive vibe that shifts the frequency within ourselves and unlocks the greatness within.

Second Place

Covid Juggler

Nova Clite

Found objects, reclaimed wire, beads, 38 x 13 inches

$ 500

Judge’s Comment: The pandemic has changed the calculus on how we value work, relationships, health…life has become a fragile juggling act accurately represented by this hanging sculpture

Biography: Nova Clite is a self-taught mixed-media artist who integrates found, crafted, and recycled objects to create works that both intrigue and challenge.

A life-long creative, Ms. Clite recently retired from a three-decades long career in environmental science, with a focus on pollution cleanup. Her scientific knowledge and deep experience inform her artwork with perspective on how the world works and the challenges before us. Yet playful imagination is the primary driver of her compositions in found materials, beads, clay, and paint.

Gravity and light play significant roles in her work, including mobiles and free-hanging balance pieces. Ms. Clite has won several awards for her work. You can find her at the Bell Arts Factory, Studio 35, 432 N. Ventura Blvd., Ventura, CA.

Instagram: @novaclite

Website: http://novaclite.com

Third Place

Release the Repressed

Jacqueline F. Moore

Oil on canvas, 20 x 20 inches

$ 600

Judge’s comment: Release the repressed in particular and the series in general exemplifies value minimal brush strokes and powerful moves by the artist showing the journey | struggle moving from dark to light…or perhaps light to dark.

Biography: Jacqueline F. Moore is a fine artist, musical composer, and psychotherapist. She completed a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Fine Art Painting from the Academy of Art University in 2013. She was attuned to level 2 Reiki energy in 2014. She completed a 500 hour yoga teacher training in 2015 and has taught ever since.

As part of her teacher training she mentored with a teacher in Vipassana meditation and somatic experiencing. A graduate of the Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2021, Jacqueline holds a Masters of Art in Counseling Psychology and is a registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist.

To bring together her love of composition, the qualities of mindfulness, and analysis of the psyche, her work seeks to offer an insightful exploration into states of being and transmutation.

Honorable Mention

Cosmos

Caroline Biggerstaff

Acrylic on wood, 24 x 24 inches

$ 500

Judge’s comment: When I look at Cosmos, it makes me happy and that’s what I value.

Biography: Caroline Biggerstaff is a local artist based in Oxnard, CA. She is a high school art teacher, a mother of 2 (almost 3), and a painter in her free time. Caroline has been focused on the motif of hands in her latest work. Not only was she looking for a challenge, but they are also representative of our personal relationship with the world around us and how we interact with it.