Art council's Juried Art Exhibit features many pieces inspired by Southeast Missouri

BEST IN SHOW "The Call of Spring" watercolor by Judi Brey (above) [Click to enlarge]

A watercolor painting filled with bright daffodils, blue glass and two eggs has been chosen to represent top artistry in this year's Regional Juried Art Exhibition at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. The exhibition was judged by Peter Nguyen, who selected 70 works out of more than 100 entries.

Nguyen is the director of Southeast Missouri State University's Crisp Museum. He has won numerous awards for his own work and has participated in many national exhibitions. He has 10 years of experience as a museum and gallery administrator as well as an art professor.

Judi Brey's painting, "The Call of Spring," took Best in Show honors.

Brey has lived most of her life in Cape Girardeau and began her experience in painting at Southeast Missouri State University under the instruction of Joe Wells. She later lived in Kansas City, Mo., where she studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and became a member of the Kansas City Art Association. There she began her career and started entering shows and winning awards.

Brey said she found then she could sell paintings and decided to become a professional artist.

Despite her still life watercolor painting winning the exhibition, Brey said her specialty is in painting children's portraiture, which she said has been a very joyful and rewarding experience.

"I think that portrait painting is the ultimate challenge to any artist because you strive to capture the essence of the child and have to please the client at the same time. It's rewarding when it turns out well, and it's something that I love to do," Brey said.

Another of Brey's paintings, titled "The Butterfly Girl," was selected for the exhibition. The painting depicts a little girl cradling a butterfly in her hands. A client who commissioned the painting chose a different pose of the child, so Brey kept the butterfly painting for herself. Originally, the girl held a flower petal, but Brey said she thought a butterfly fit there because of the position of the hands, so she painted one in.

Another of Brey's watercolor paintings in the exhibition depicts a colorful scene of the courthouse gazebo in Cape Girardeau. Brey said the gazebo is one of her favorite places in the area to go because of the views.

"I try to find the light around me, and try to be true to the things that stir my heart to become an artist. I think the visual world is such a beautiful place, and I find the things around me, and in people and nature are exciting things to paint," she said.

Brey paints from photographs she takes of her subjects.

Her painting of the courthouse gazebo was true to the request of the arts council, which encouraged entrants to submit pieces interpreting people, places and things that represent the region.

Melissa Miller, director of the arts council, said much of the art is representative of scenes one will see around the area. The familiar scenes, such as natural wonders in Southeast Missouri and popular flowering plants, were chosen by artists.

Big Spring in Southeast Missouri was depicted twice, once in paint by Janet Benesh and once in a photograph by the Tom Neumeyer, who was awarded the top spot in the graphic category for a photograph of calla lilies.

Ida Domazlicky, who took home an honorable mention in the same category for a street scene photograph titled "Water Street Assembly," took advantage of the aftermath of a destructive storm that swept the area in May of this year with a colorful photo named "Derecho," showing downed trees.

The competition, which was open to artists age 18 and older who live within 175 miles of Cape Girardeau, has been held annually since the late 1980s.

The majority of the pieces featured in this year's show are for sale and are priced anywhere from $1,500 down to $30. The works are on display at the Arts Council Gallery until Nov. 28. The show opened Nov. 6 with a First Friday reception.