First Place
Uzziah Amazing World
mixed media collage
by Uzziah Spellman, a Preschool / Kindergarten student from Sterling Heights, MI
First Place in the Category of Preschool/Kindergarten is Uzziah Spellman, a student artist from Sterling Heights, MI, for “Uzziah Amazing World.”
Uzziah Amazing World is a brightly colored mixed-media collage that evokes happiness and excitement. Measuring 20 inches by 16 inches, the canvas is completely covered with a variety shapes and materials, including brightly painted popsicle sticks, jewels, plastic beads, googly eyes, a variety of buttons of many colors and sizes, and torn pieces of sheet music all affixed to a background of handprints, primary color drips and wide brush strokes. The popsicle sticks are grouped in three main areas of the canvas, creating fence-like sections and buttons glued atop of the sticks.
The jewels are in the top right section, glued into a thick ribbon of pristine white paint. There are four irregularly shaped pieces of sheet music that appear to be torn from a larger piece, outlined in black, then glued to the canvas. The handprints overlap throughout the canvas and add a very personal touch, as the artist connects all these exciting and fun elements. Looking at the piece the viewer may feel that Uzziah has a bright, musical, inspiring, and indeed, an amazing world.
Second Place
In the Snow
mixed media
by Jude Gugel, a student from Manville, RI
Coming in Second Place in the Preschool/Kindergarten Category is Jude Gugel, a student from Manville, RI, for “In the Snow.”
The artwork measures 11 by 8 ½ by ¾ inches, depicting a whimsical snowy scene. In the lower right side of the piece stand a duo of soft, cotton-ball snowmen. With plastic buttons, and hats and arms made of colorful Wikki-Stixs, the snowmen are being built by two cheerful figures. The figures are simply purple circles with wide red smiles, arms, and legs also made of Wikki-Stix. Surrounding the snowmen and their creators are deconstructed cotton-balls, glued to the paper to create a soft, snowy background. To the left, an ice-skating rink made of blue shiny paper and outlined in dark colors of Wikki-Stixs allows for two figures to skate. One is green, the other pinkish-red, both with colorful Wikki-Stix arms, legs, and hats. Both sport a pair of dark green skates. Above this playful winter scene, two green Wikki-Stix trees and one red Wikki-Stix house sit on the horizon, accompanied by a warm, waxy-yellow sun with warm-colored Wikki-Stix rays branching out from it.
Third Place
Spring Flower
watercolor collage
by Lyric Lawson, a student from the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, PA
Third place in the category of Preschool/Kindergarten is Lyric Lawson, a student from the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, PA, for “Spring Flower.”
This watercolor painting on paper appears at first to be a flower on a white background but, rather, is a magnificent paper collage. Measuring 12 by 18 inches, a large flower covers most of the page, with a round ball of petals at the top left corner of the piece, surrounded by green leaves and a stem extended across the page to the bottom right corner. There is another smaller flower coming from the stem, on the right side. The flower colors are muted in rose, purple, blue and red that gently blend together. The greens of the stem and leaves also seep into each other in a dreamy way. It is unclear exactly what specific kind of flower this is, but it resembles a hydrangea or a lily. The artist has painted softly rounded abstract shapes on another piece of paper, then cut the shapes and arranged them on this rectangular piece of paper to create this flower. In the bottom right corner is the name Lyric, the creator of this artwork. The overall feeling is a lovely, calm sense of peace.