Three young women took home the top prizes from the 2018 art adjudication at the Signal Hill Arts Centre, as two visiting artists announced the winners from the art entries submitted by 19 artists for this year’s competition.
First place went to Erin Sidloski for her series of five acrylic paintings of landscape scenes from across Canada; second place went to Rickee-Lee Webster, for her three mixed media works; and in third was Hannah Grieve for her series of five works of abstract mixed media.
The adjudicators were visiting artists, Val Moker and Allan Dotson, with Moker putting on a day-long class on fluid acrylics on Saturday.
“I’m still in awe at the variety of the art we saw here,” said Moker.
“There’s lots of super work going on, and I’m pleased to see the supportive attitude that Weyburn has going on for the arts,” added Dotson.
Asked about her paintings, Sidloski noted the variety of locations of her landscapes, and said, “I’m super passionate about my country. Every one of these locations are beautiful. I just love to explore my country.”
The locations ranged from a field near her home farm at Ralph, to the Big Muddy country, to an island off the West Coast, a scene from the Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Huron and Horseshoe Bay just north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Sidloski took photos at each of the locations, and her favourite of these five was the scene on the West Coast near the former Queen Charlotte Islands. She admitted the photo looks different from what she painted, but the painting represents not only what she saw but what she felt in experiencing that location.
“I take a photo, and then I try to break it down to its simplistic form. It’s like I break it down to the colour separations,” she said, noting her paintings aren’t realistic, but a sort of abstract form of the landscapes.
“I’m totally inspired by nature. It’s really therapeutic for me to be in nature,” said Sidloski, adding she was also inspired by the work of some of her favourite painters, such as Ted Harrison and Lawren Harris.
Third-place winner Hannah Grieve attends Grade 11 at the Weyburn Comp, and explained her five pieces of mixed media are abstract representations of the Saskatchewan landscape.
“Saskatchewan was my inspiration, which I discovered while I was making these pieces,” she explained, noting she found as she watched the passing landscape while riding in a car that she was intrigued by the colours and the beauty of it.
“I’ve always enjoyed doing abstract forms,” she added, explaining she has grown up loving art and enjoys the positive environment to create. She has been helped by her art teachers, Donna Klein and Tammie Ashton-Morrison, although she noted she created these pieces on her own at home.
“People have always been so positive to me,” said Grieve, adding of her involvement in the adjudication contest, “It’s been a really good experience, and I’ve learned a lot from everyone.”
