Artistic Achievement

Making art a part of their life: Best in Show goes to homeschooled Rebekah Tyler’s “A Golden Outlook” at Bosque Arts Center High School Student Art Show & Sale

CLIFTON – Art gives people an outlet for thoughts, emotions and creativity and as such is an important way to express oneself. Through the artistic process, youth discover their gifts and talents, and ultimately, who they really are, gaining confidence.

Each year, the Bosque Arts Center offers students from area high schools including Hamilton, Hico, Clifton, Whitney, Cranfills Gap, McGregor and homeschooled students the opportunity to exhibit their artistic talents and creativity to the public in the High School Student Art Show and Sale. This year was the 21st time the BAC art council organized the show, encouraging and recognizing blossoming young talent in the area.

The past four years, the show had about 40-50 entries from the different schools. but this year, the Art Council was delighted to see an increased participation this year. Adding McGregor to the roster, there were 115 entries to the juried show.

Local award-winning watercolorist Ann Patton was honored to jury the very diverse entries. For each of the award-winning pieces, Patton explained what it is she found special about the work, why it caught her eye. While some pieces did not win an award, there were a couple works she found worthy of a new distinction, the honorable mention. When reviewing the art work, she looked for creativity, skill, use of color and values, composition, and what feeling the artwork evoked.

Patton found it refreshing to see the strong creativity and the sense of freedom she got from all the artwork in the show.

“Having your work in an exhibit is such an opportunity, and also to see other people’s work and learn about it.” Patton said. “My advice to the young artists is to embrace your creativity and explore your interests. Do not get too worried about producing the perfect picture. Engage in the learning possibilities of trying out new things.”

Both Clifton and Hico had 20 entries followed by newcomer McGregor with 16. With it being spring break for their school, McGregor’s art teacher Landi Haynes was thrilled to accept the six awards garnered by her students.

“This is so wonderful for them, and will certainly boost their confidence,” Haynes said. She had brought her art students to the BAC Art Classic in Sept. 2023 to expose them to visiting an art gallery, and talk to the exhibiting artists, which inspired them to enter this high school art show.

The largest category was pencil/ink/charcoal drawing followed by oil/acrylics. Watercolors had 17 entries and mixed media 20.

Patton’s Best in Show went to Rebekah Tyler’s landscape “A Golden Outlook,” of a cowboy on horseback. It had what Patton calls “curb appeal,” and because of the use of light and color, it conveyed the feeling of being “bathed in light.” Additionally, it captured movement which attracts the eye, as does the feeling of depth.

Tyler also won second place with another landscape “Still Winter Evening,” that also had a clarity of theme, capturing the winter evening, with a beautiful sky. Tyler’s drawing “Keep on Strumming” received an Honorable Mention for the high difficulty of the subject matter. The extremely talented Tyler also won Best in Show in 2023 with a portrait drawing

Patton started the awards with her favored category – water colors. Being a bit of a chocaholic, her first place award went to Kayden Peterson’s “Savor the Sweet Moments” of a strawberry, dripping with chocolate. Peterson also received the third place award for “Delicious and refreshing,” a bottle of Coca Cola on a start white background. Patton was impressed by the artist’s beautiful technique and painting skill, the use of light and color.

Sticking to her white background theme, Peterson additionally won First Place in the Oil/Acrylic category with her fun and colorful “Unwrap Happiness,” an excellent, creative portrayal of a candy in a transparent wrapper – which adds to the difficulty of the painting, to effectively show the shadow in the transparent material.

Second place water media went to McGregor’s Skylar Montgomery for her skilled use of subtle colors in her work “Shells.”

“I kept walking back to this painting, because of the appeal and the movement in it captured my eye,” Patton said. “I would love to hang this in my own home.”

Clifton ninth grader Juan Flores received an honorable mention for his creativity and great use of color in his purple and white “Melting Shoe.”

The category Drawing has the added challenge, that without colors, the artist can only use values to portray the subject matter.

McGregor sophomore Matthew Crosley’s portrayal of an antler shed against a stark black background brought a lot of drama, drawing the viewer in. Besides the excellent drawing, Patton was especially impressed by the texture Crosley achieved. Art Teacher Haynes explained he started with white charcoal, and then layered on top of that. The title “Lil Bambi,” like the grey against the stark black background, created an instant contrast too – because once this big eight-point buck was a little calf.

Second place went to McGregor sophomore Llareli Martinez for her “Endangered Beauty.” The sea turtles were camouflaged in a sea of geometric and organic shapes, causing the viewer to look twice. Patton appreciated the softness and subtlety of the work, making it really pretty. She also found it creative, with very good composition, and a really good use of values and range.

Third place drawing went to Hamilton sophomore Emma Thompson for her “Nanny.” The artist was successful in capturing the expression, especially in the eyes.

Honorable Mention went to Whitney Freshman Sayde Comenero for her work “Obliteration of Evil.” Patton wanted to recognize the artist’s excellence in drawing for this intriguing and complicated piece. The longer the viewer looked at the drawing, the more details were revealed.

Because of the variety, diversity and creativity on show, Patton found the Mixed Media category a challenge to judge. First place went to Clifton sophomore David Solis for his abstract “Drips” in lavender, mauve and grey hues.

“I like to engage in abstract works,” Patton said. “This was an extremely creative, strong piece of work. It’s very fluid and engaging and I looked at it for a long time. It invited me to explore it.”

A purple and blue skull against a contrasting orange and yellow background called “Skull Sunrise” by McGregor sophomore Cheyenne Anderson garnered second place. Patton especially liked the technique of using dots to give extra depth to the outlines, which added to the appeal of this strong and creative work.

McGregor sophomore Cyndee Walker won third place with her captivating piece “The Trickster” of subtly colored organic forms in a contrasting sea of black and white scalloped circles.

Third place in Oil/Acrylics went to another McGregor sophomore Carolina Waters for her fun, vibrant and creative “The Best Sunset,” which gave Patton the sensation of being on vacation.

With the ribbons came generous prize monies, with Best in Show receiving $500, first place in each media division $100, second place $75, third place $50, and honorable mentions receiving ribbons. The students’ works will be for sale, if they choose. The show is open to the public during BAC opening hours for the coming two weeks through March 15.