Hot Springs holds first juried art show
Melissa Oyer
Valley Press
Local artists found another way to have their art recognized at a show held at On the Wall Gallery Friday. The Hot Springs Artists Society hosted the First Annual Juried art show from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a reception for the public.
There were different types of art displayed. Everything from chalk sketches, oil pastels, clay sculptures and woodcarvings to watercolors, photographs, and graphite pencil drawings.
Each piece was ornate in its own way and was displayed nicely in frames.
Artists who participated were Joan Nevarez, Russ Robbins, Lucky Howser, Betty Young, Deb Myers, Pamela Bradley, Mike Kamp, Kelli Heath, and Dallas Ott.
Donna Redmond, from Hot Springs, was perusing the art during the show. “I think it’s a wonderful show,” Redmond said. “It’s a great way for local artists to get exposure.”
Redmond said not a lot of things like this happened in Hot Springs so she was excited to get out and hope the community will continue to support the arts with shows like this one.
Prizes were awarded to three separate pieces. $200 cash was given to the Best in Show winner. $100 went to the winner of the Reserve ribbon and another ribbon and certificate went to the People’s Choice piece as voted on by people who attended the show.
The juror for the show was Crystal Kingston who is a known arts supporter from the area. Kingston owned and operated the Wild Plum Station restaurant and gallery, which featured live music on weekends and monthly rotating art exhibits in Dixon from 2004 to 2006.
Dallas Ott won the Reserve for her painting of her daughter, Shey holding a tiny flying creature.
Ott said she has been drawing, painting ever since she could hold a crayon. This was Ott’s first public show she has entered in some time.
”I am really excited to be honored,” Ott said. “I just recently started to really push myself to place my work in shows like this so it was really satisfying to know my hard work paid off.”
Ott just finished writing her second book and hopes to have it published within the next couple of months. It is a short children’s book she describes as “fairies with moral stories.”
The Best in Show award went to Lucky Howser for his wood carving entitled “God’s Hands”
The woodcarving was displayed on a marble base and kept people guessing what the different parts of the carving were depicting.
“I was shocked,” Howser said. “There were so many nice works included in the show, I was humbled to know that mine had been selected by a juror.”
Howser has been creating pieces for about 30 years and spends most of his time doing woodcarvings of faces, Indians, mountain men, bears and other animals.
Howser had no particular inspiration when he started the piece for this show.
LoHua Odekirk, a Hot Springs resident, was in awe of most of the pieces. “I love it, I just love everything,” Odedkirk said. “The sculpture by Lucky is amazing. It’s really good to see good works done by good people.”
Odekirk owns the Rainbow Zen Café in Hot Springs and said shows like this are good for the community. “People come to Hot Springs because the water here is second best in the world,” she said. “So if there are things like this for them to come out to, itÂ’s just even more exciting.”
All the pieces for the art show were done by Hot Springs / Lone Pine artists with the exception of two works by Polson artists, and Ott, who is from the Hot Springs area but currently lives in northern Idaho .
Planning for the show began in late 2008. In January 2009, invitations were mailed for the show. Libby Gibson of the Artists Society said they plan on making this a yearly show after the success of this first event.
The artwork displayed at the show will remain at Off The Wall until June 30.
For more information, contact Marla Brown at 741-2059 or visit www.hotspringsartist.org.