Girardot National Juried Exhibition best in show winner inspired by nature

Watercolor and mixed media artist Sarah Capps captured the natural beauty of a place she knows well -- her home in Southern Illinois.

Capps, the winner of Best In Show in the 2009 Girardot National Juried Exhibition, submitted three pieces to be judged by internationally known watercolor painter Paul Jackson of Columbia, Mo. Jackson chose Capps' watercolor painting of snow-covered trees reflected on an ice-filled creek, called "Winter Solstice," from among 107 submitted pieces.

The Girardot National Juried Exhibition, held annually by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, accepts works in every medium from all over the country.

Capps' painting depicts a creek on her property in Belle Rive, Ill., which she said she has painted several times before during different seasons and times of the day.

Jackson said the artist was "on her game" when she created the winning painting.

From across the room or even a few feet away, the painting looks like a photograph. Only close examination reveals the piece as a watercolor painting. Capps used several photographs of the landscape in order to create panoramic shots which provided a basis for her work.

"I'm surprised I didn't know her work before," Jackson said. "It was that good."

Capps had kept "Winter Solstice" under wraps until the Girardot show.

"This one I had not shown in competition yet, but it is one of my favorites," Capps said. She said she usually works a few days a week for about two months to finish a piece of art.

"When doing snow, it's important to know what not to paint," she said. She uses masking and graphing techniques, and makes sketches before she begins using watercolors.

"Anybody can do it this way," she said, speaking of the technique, which she used to teach students as a college art instructor. During her time at Rend Lake College in Ina, Ill., Capps taught her students everything from painting to sculpture.

"You're sort of a jack of all trades when you teach at a two-year college," she said.

Two more of Capps' pieces made it into the show: a colored pencil landscape titled "Heat" and a mixed media piece, featuring a country road she made using ink and colored pencil, called "After the Rain." She said mixed media is something she has been experimenting with.

"All of the pieces she submitted were top-notch and very masterful," Jackson said.

Capps' win in the Girardot exhibition is one of her many successes. Of the 133 regional shows she has entered, she has garnered 31 awards.

Several years ago, she was asked to submit work for the White House calendar. Although her work was not selected, she said the experience was an honor.

Competition in the annual juried show came from local and out-of-state artists, and included a wide array of styles and techniques. Of the 62 pieces selected by Jackson for the show, artists from Illinois, Georgia, Texas and New York were represented.

Jackson said the quality of the pieces in the show was exceptional.

Many pieces are painted or photographed landscapes. The show is hung by subject category, with some abstract paintings or sculptures randomly placed throughout the gallery.

Patrons and artists who attended the show's opening during the July First Friday at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri said they were pleased with Jackson's selections.

Pastel artist Priscilla Kasten, whose piece "Old Dutch Vase with Tulips" was among the selections, said the exhibition was one of the best shows she had seen in a while.

"I like the subjects, there's lots of color and everything is very tastefully done," said Kasten, of Millersville, Mo.

The exhibition is open at the arts council gallery, 32 N. Main St., until July 31.

Girardot National Juried Exhibition winners

The following artists and pieces placed in the 2009 Girardot National Juried Multimedia Exhibition:

Best In Show: "Winter Solstice," a watercolor painting by Sarah Capps of Belle Rive, Ill.

First place: "Creek on Stallings Road," an acrylic painting on hardboard by Victor Dallas of Senola, Ga.

Second place: "Shadowplay," a watercolor painting by Annie Schuchart of Sikeston, Mo.

Honorable Mention: "A Copse of Loblolly Pine," a watercolor painting by Robert McCool of Cape Girardeau