The awards for the November 2023 PleinAir Salon Art Competition were announced on December 28th. The selections were made by our judge, award-winning artist Skip Whitcomb. The overall and category winners will now be included in the judging for the 13th Annual PleinAir Salon Competition being awarded in May 2024.
FIRST PLACE
Maria Josenhans, Endless Agate Beach
Oil, 36×60 in.
“The Josenhans water painting is a beautiful orchestration of natural shapes and color harmonies. It is woven together with lost and found edges and values that move the viewer through an exciting journey of the entire surface of her canvas. It’s an outstanding example of what Whistler referred to as “visual poetry.””
SECOND PLACE
Robert Spooner, Last Field to Plow
Oil, 49×65 in.
“Robert Spooner’s western themed piece is a refreshingly contemporary interpretation of an age-old subject. His color harmonies are thoughtful orchestrations, equally refreshing, and adventurous. His paint handling is bold, confident, and unapologetic, visually dynamic. It is a complete expressive statement.”
THIRD PLACE
Carolyn Lord, High Altitude Vista
Watercolor, 11×15 in.
“The Carolyn Lord watercolor is a masterful arrangement of shapes in completely different approach than the Josenhans painting but no less masterful in the way she uses the form within forms to move the viewer’s eye through her compositions. Her intentional use of hard edges and the mosaic-like quality gives her work a remarkable and uniquely personal quality rarely seen in the medium”
CATEGORY WINNERS
Each category award winner is now entered into the Annual Competition. Judges will review all the winners from the 13th Annual PleinAir Salon, and we will award over $22,000 at the Annual Competition held in May 2024.
CATEGORY HONORABLE MENTIONS
The category honorable mention recipients are eligible to re-enter their paintings into future competitions.
TOP 100 FINALISTS
Each month all the entries are reviewed and scored by a judge. The paintings with the highest scores become the Top 100 Finalists. (In the event of tied scores, there may be more than 100). The awards for the monthly competition are selected from this group of finalist.
Click here to view all the entrants to the November PleinAir Salon Art Competition.
