Bowling Pin of Excellence

The public has spoken. The Bowling Pin of Excellence Electric Wheel has chosen a winner! Jamie Gerhold is the winner of the coveted 2011 Bowling Pin of Excellence !!!!
Out of the many artists participating in Artomatic@Frederick last month, the public chose their favorites from the show. These nominees were whittled down to five finalists and then, BPOE organizer/creator/mastermind Roger Cutler's electric wheel randomly chose a winner from the five. We had a fun award banquet at a Chinese restaurant in Frederick last night and Roger spun the Wheel. Standing with smiling Jamie are three finalists for the award: Annie Lunsford, David Hagen (me, back left), and Phyllis Mayes. Equally brilliant, but not in the picture, are finalists Deborah Winram and Richard Schellenberg.

It should also be pointed out that the nice shiny awards given to the finalists (I call mine the "Duckpin of Excellence") were partly made from scrap aluminum provided by Artomatic mechanical wizard Carl Cordell who passed away last July.
Congrats to all! And thanks to Roger and all that voted for me. Shiny.

Griffey

Griffey, 10"x 20" acrylic on canvas.

Here's a painting I just finished for daughter Claire's boyfriend's graduation present. Claire told me Drew's favorite baseball player was Ken Griffey Jr. which made this fun because he was one of my favorites too. Griffey was a great hitter, but I really admired the way he played the outfield with a joyful enthusiasm and excitement. He could catch any ball he could run down and I think this scene depicts that. I wanted to use the same monochromatic gray colors I used in my "A Fine Arm" painting, but on the cooler spectrum for a more modern look and I think it came out well. A Fine Arm, 30"x 40" acrylic on canvas.