Mercer County Senior Art Contest Winners

Mercer County will be handsomely represented in the State finals for the New Jersey Senior Art Show in October. Awards for 2010 were presented in ceremonies at Meadow Lakes, East Windsor, New Jersey on Friday, August 13 on what turned out to be a lucky day for nine artists and artisans.

The Best In Show award went to a watercolor of turkeys by Elizabeth Peck entitled "US Senate". It was a viewer favorite and well deserved the honors. Needless to say, it also won first place in watercolors so it is going on to finals.

First place in acrylics went to "Lake Drive" by Pearl Busch. Her painting was vivid in those colors possible only in acrylics. Good choice.

Ronald LeMahieu's ceramic breadbasket entitled "The Loon" was wonderful in its shape and texture. At first glance, it appeared to be constructed of bottle caps, but then a closer look at the many segments revealed its complexity. Its first place moves it to the State finals.

Ming Ji won first place in drawing for her black and white "Forested Mountain". The size of the composition was remarkable and is a sure hit for the October show.

Jackie Wouwenberg's "Nantucket Cottage" was a water color accented by inks and placed first in the mixed media category. This is going to be an interesting entry for October because mixed media can mean any variety of paint combinations and this work is strong enough to hold up to potential competition.

First place in oils went to Norman Fesmire's "Movin' On", a sailboat soaring over the sea. Now it is "movin' on" to finals.

Photography had enough entries for both a professional and non-professional category. First place for the professionals went to Tito Cascieri for "Standing Tall: Navarro California Redwood, 2000 Years Young". First place for non-professionals went to Janie Montervino for "Hidden".

County Mention Awards were awarded as follows:

Acrylic: Beth K. Wham, "Tear Drop Lake"

Craft: Robert Kendall, "Night Flight"

Drawing: Luba Model, "Persian Capbearer"

Mixed Media: Mary S. Johnson, "Meeting in November Woods"

Photography: Walt Varan, "Lifeline"

Oil: Lina Chao, "Africa"

Watercolor: Stephan Marusky, "Still Life"

Our congratulations to the winners and to everyone at the Office of Aging, Division of Culture and Heritage, Meadow Lakes and to all the volunteers who made this event such a success. In a time of belt tightening, this was unexpectedly delightful and well presented. Special thanks to the Mercer County Officials who attended the awards and helped with the acknowlegements of the artists' achievements.

Yesss.

People rock!