Award Winners Honored at So You Think You Can Paint

News Report

Thirteen artists vied for awards during the first So You Can Paint--Greater Brandon Edition competition at The Regent Feb. 10.

Organized by Riverview artist Vincent Kral, the competition invited known and unknown artists to submit work for judging at the Regent, 6437 Watson Rd., Riverview.

Prizes of art supplies were provided by AOE Art Supply.

In addition to Kral, judges included artists Peter Abrami and Megan Hildebrandt.

Massage therapist Todd Holm of Brandon won Best of Show.

Riverview High School art teacher Jennifer Mackey won the You Be the Judge Award for her painting, "Sweet Innocence," of a sleeping puppy.

Constance B. Davis won a Recycled Medium award for her painting, "Sunset," created with ink from discarded printer cartridges.

Maria F. Rojas of Riverview won the Best Depiction of Emotions award for "Bipolar," "Free from Struggle" and "New Chapter of the Life."

Former Bloomingdale High School art teacher, Karen Marcos, won Best Photo Realism for her work, "Maui Koi."

Megan Carr garnered the Experimental Exploration Award for her three entries.

Also taking home awards were Jim March for “Move to Berlin” and Thomas Mueller, first runner up, for his paintings called "Kitty."

The judges gave a special nod to Christina Howland – Metias, who is living in France at the moment and found out about the competition on Facebook. She submitted digital images of her work, which were displayed on a computer during the reception.