(Above: “Sitting Guitar and Viola” is Junction City artist Steve Seals’ piece in the National Juried Show on display at the Emerald Art Center in downtown Springfield through June 2)

By Randi Bjornstad

There are 66 paintings in the National Juried Show at the Emerald Art Center in downtown Springfield, and coordinator Merrilea Jones said Texas judge Randy Meador was wowed by the quality of the entries.

“He told me that in a lot of shows there will be pieces that are really good and some that aren’t as good, but he said that everything in this show shines,” Jones said. “This year we had 338 images submitted by 141 artists, and it was really hard for him to choose.”

Eugene artist Will Paradis’ “Automatist Landscape” has thick layers of acrylic paint and a hint of Vincent Van Gogh

She asked Meador to select between 65 and 70 paintings for the show, “and he picked 66, plus four alternates that he felt were good enough to be included if we could handle more,” Jones said. “Besides just choosing things he liked, he had to be sure to include all mediums and genres, to be sure we had a well-rounded show.”

Although she had a piece in last year’s show, Jones’ own entry — she paints primarily abstracts — didn’t make it in this year. “I was thinking, ‘Darn, I hope it gets in,’ and I really thought it might, but it didn’t,” she said. “Maybe next year.”

Meador, who paints primarily in acrylic and watercolor — “He’s ranked as the No. 46 watercolorist in the world,” Jones said — was among her top choices for this year’s judge among those currently active and available for this show.

He had an interesting way of narrowing the choices, which was to go to go through the images that were submitted, she said, “and if he stopped to look at one for more than a second or so, he knew it likely would end up in the show.”

Alisa Whitman of Lebanon created a striking piece called “Tumalo Falls”

The Emerald Art Center’s annual juried show has grown in stature through the years, as evidenced in the growing number of entries as well as the cash awards available to the winners.

“We award $1,500 for Best in Show, $1,000 for the Gold Award, $700 for Silver, and $500 for Bronze,” Jones said. “Then we have a $300 Award of Distinction, two $200 Merit Awards, a $200 Founder’s Award, four $100 Certificates of Recognition and three $50 Achievement Awards.”

There also is a People’s Choice award. Visitors to the gallery are invited to cast a vote for their favorite artwork until the show closes on June 2.

One of her responsibilities in coordinating the show is soliciting donations to support the awards, and the quality of the show helps to make that possible, Jones said. She’s also pleased that Oregon artists through the years have won increasing stature in the show.

“It used to be that only about a third of the paintings that were chosen were by Oregon artists, and now it’s often at least half,” she said. “And that doesn’t happen because the show is in Oregon — each submission is given a number, and the judge has no idea who the artist is or from where.”

Year-round job

“Work Bench,” a small piece by Harrisburg artist Jerry Dame, is one of show coordinator Merrilea Jones’ favorites in the show. “If someone else hadn’t bought it already, I would,” she said.

With this year’s event is coming to an end, it’s already time to start planning for next year, said Jones, who has been in charge of planning the exhibit for five years. Her first task will be to superintend the repacking and sending back all of the unsold pieces that appear in this show.

Then she will immediately turn to creating a list of potential judges and contacting them for their availability in 2019.

“There’s something to do all year long, and it all has to come together for the opening day of the show,” she said with a laugh. “It’s kind of like working for Santa Claus.”

Every time she walks through the exhibit, she sees something new to appreciate, Jones said. “I’ve had lots of favorites already — it seems to change every few days.”

She was especially pleased by one thing this year that doesn’t usually happen.

“When the judge arrived and made his choices for the awards, in my mind I had picked the same one he did for Best in Show,” Jones said.

That painting is called “First Blush” and is a seascape of sea otters in the surf, painted by Gresham artist Kathy Hur.

“I can’t really explain why it has the effect it does, but it is just really appealing,” Jones said. “And the funny thing is, this is the first time Kathy Hur has entered a contest — she says she’s a ‘newby’ — and she won the top prize.”

Emerald Art Center 2018 National Juried Show

When: Through June 2

Where: 500 Main St., Springfield

Gallery hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Information: 541-726-8595 or emeraldartcenter.org/

Kathy Hur of Gresham won Best in Show for her seascape, “First Blush”

 

 

 

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