Art show winners

The only thing that makes me happier than winning an award is having my students win them. At today's Tri Art show opening three of my students won awards (one watercolor, two collages) and several had paintings or collages that were attracting a lot of attention. I was surprised at three of the collages by students who had taken my class in February--two of them won prizes on works they did after taking the class. About a third of the entrants are my current or former students. This is a balanced show, which I like to see. I think it's a result of the categories chosen for the show. Instead of judging by media, the judge was asked to select award winners in three catetories: landscape, still life, and emotion. There were special awards for experimental painting, Impressionist style, etc., as well. His comments while judging were related to design elements and overall technique. He had a good eye for quality work.