By DARLA MCCAMMON

Lakeland Art Association

WARSAW — Lakeland Art Association recently held it’s annual spring competition. Artists from a wide geographic area submitted entries hoping to win the nice purse that is always offered.

The works were not categorized for this show thus all works were evaluated against all other works. The judge was Don Swartzentruber who also presented a program about judging at the member meeting in May.

Steve Creighton won best of show with his painting Indian Creek.

Following are his selections beginning with the most treasured award, best of show.

• Best of show went to Steve Creighton. Titled Indian Creek, this is a thoughtful landscape and a bit of a deviation from the normal Dutch Master technique we often see in Creighton’s exceptional still life work.
• First place went to an especially nice portrait done by Jacob Shriner titled Whitney.
• Second place was awarded to a proverbial award winner—Robert Hudson, for his amazing painting titled As Mandy Sees It.
• Third place went to Andy Corp with his luscious liquid acrylic pouring technique titled Rays of Sunshine.

Ten other artists received honorable mentions with memorable work that has to have been very difficult for the judge to select only fourteen total winners out of the many good entries.

As I have often shared in this column, a painting can often win with a different judge or a different competition that has been overlooked somewhere else, so those who did not win a top ribbon should not be discouraged—they were accepted into the competition, after all, and that in itself is a distinction not all can claim in juried shows.

Maple Leaf Farms and the Tucker Family are also commended for their frequent generosity to our community and they have long been sponsors of this event for the Lakeland Art Association. LAA is deeply appreciative of their recurring support of the efforts of this not-for-profit art association.

LAA is planning for the very first art fair. This will be in conjunction with the Travelers Vintage Antiques and Artisan Fair at the Warsaw Fairgrounds, August 26 and 27.  The art fair will be a fund raiser for LAA with proceeds from booth rentals for the fine arts area going to help support the not-for-profit Lakeland Art Association. This is one show where the artist keeps all proceeds from the sale of their art work. Applications and rules can be picked up at the art gallery at 302 E. Winona Ave., Warsaw.

Lakeland gallery hours are 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Watch for information about their new “lunch and learn” series available to everyone and a short walk from downtown. Take your lunch hour from work and grab a bite to eat and find a new project or teaching class to enjoy!

Upcoming and Current Events: 

• Warsaw City Hall Art Gallery.  A smattering of work by Darla McCammon is now on display.  Award-winning artist continues to develop in new directions.  Open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.  City Hall gallery is free admission.
• Lakeland Art Association, 302 E. Winona Ave. Warsaw, current exhibit, Wamsley and Shoemaker. Other arts and craft items are also on display. Bring your friends and browse and enjoy. Visit online.
• Honeywell themed competition opens in Wabash Indiana June 8 through July 24. This prestigious event is sure to have some impressive work for you to enjoy. All work entered revolves  around a water theme. Call the Honeywell Clark Gallery with questions.

Web site for this column author: www.darlamc.com. Email her at [email protected], or call (574) 527-4044.  Some older columns are available for your pleasure on the web site.