Ventura County Arts Council — Call to Artists — VALUE | Online Entry Deadline September 29, 2021 | Message | Communication prize winners and judge’s comments | LOVE art pick-up Oct. 6

First Place

2020 Moods

Amanda Armitage

crocheted yarn, 114 x 81 inches

Not for sale

Judge’s comment: Maintaining a daily creative ritual for a full orbit around the sun in itself is interesting—and even more so—is getting to peek into the moods that traveled through the year as well. This piece makes me wonder what each color connects too—are the sprinkled lines of yellow representing moments of joy? What was happening during the stretch devoid of yellow—instead streaked with purples, reds, and blues? Can the artist feel the weight of the year on themselves when they wrap themselves up in this blanket? What does it feel like? Interesting piece.

Biography: Amanda works in IT for the Ventura County Library. Her Grandma taught her to crochet when she was little. She doesn’t use patterns or really knows how to read them. The artist decided to start 2020 by crocheting a row a day for the entire year, each color reflecting the mood she was in that day. What a colorful year! She started with white for hope and ended it by surrounding the whole blanket in the same white for hope.

Second Place

Alone in My Bubble

Patti Kunstadt

mixed media, 16 x 4.5 x 4.5 inches

Not for sale

Judge’s Comment: How many of us got dressed up with nowhere to go—alone in our bubbles—like this doll? Face mask blue—accented with matching blue dress and handbag—a fashionable choice. Who are we trying to impress when there’s nobody around? Creative work—I wonder what exactly the artist was working through here.

Third Place

Texting

Crissy Martin

photography, 8.5 x 11 inches

Not for sale

Judge’s comment: I did not read the texted conversation—no matter—this wall of conversation brings me subtle anguish, a visual reminder of the physical isolation of the recent past.

Biography: I’m an artist for my own survival and being. Sometimes I share what I do if it has some significance. I enjoy creating mindless stuff too.

Honorable Mention

Reaching Out

Richard Mortensen

fused glass, 8 x 2 x 7 inches

$125

Biography: The amazing interaction between light and glass is what first attracted me to this medium over 30 years ago. For the past 20 years I have been working in fusing, the “art” of taking glass to an almost liquid state and then slowly cooling to fuse the pieces together. With fusing I find greater flexibility in what I can do as well as create more interesting color and pattern combinations. In spite of the associated cuts and burns, I get a great deal of satisfaction in working with glass and many of my pieces have been influenced by my travels throughout the American Southwest and Latin America. My “studio” is in my garage where I keep a good supply of sheet glass and band aids.

My work has been shown in galleries, wineries, tasting rooms and numerous festivals and art shows in Northern and Central California (the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art; the Bedfdord Gallery in Walnut Creek; Indigo Gallery in Santa Barbara; C- Gallery in Los Alamos; the Petaluma Gallery in Petalulma; the Gallery at the Network in San Luis Obispo; the Park Street Gallery in Paso Robles; Studios on the Park in Paso Robles, Ortman Family Vineyards and Asuncion Ridge Tasting Rooms in Paso Robles; Morro Bay Art Center; Festival of the Arts, Paso Robles). Current work can be viewed on my web site, moricaglassworks.com