Nygren – Main Trail

Nygren - Main Trail, Oil on Canvas 9" x 12"

My oil painting titled, Nygren – Main Trail, received a third place award at the Nygren Wetland Preserves Juried Exhibition. The exhibition is at the Burpee Museum of Natural History through November 30, 2010.

This was an interesting competition. The Nygren Wetland Preserves is celebrating their ten year anniversary this year. They decided to conduct an art competition as part of their celebration. Initially, this competition was stipulated as a plein air competition (paintings to be created entirely on location). All artists and photographers would be competing for one prize (photographers competing in a plein air competition- really??? ). During the first weekend that the preserve was available for artists, due to heat and humidity, the organization decided to allow artists the option to take photographs on location and create paintings in the comfort of their studios (okay?). The organization later decided to create additional prizes, so that more artists could be rewarded for their labors. They also decided to add separate prize categories for painters and photographers.

It is interesting to see the many different ways which artists and photographers interpret and convey the essence of this natural environment.