Local artists win blue ribbons at San Diego County Fair

The work of several local residents are currently on display at the San Diego County Fair.

Though the food, the entertainment and the carnival rides may get the bulk of the attention from some fair-goers, the fair also hosts what could be arguably one of the largest juried art exhibitions in the county.

The Exhibition of Fine Art is one of the oldest exhibits at the fair. The show features hundreds of works of art across a multitude of media, including painting, drawing, mixed media, sculptures, ceramics and glass.

The fair runs through July 5. For more information, go to www.SDFair.com.

What follows is a look at some of the Inland Corridor’s blue ribbon winners. A complete list of winners is available at the fair’s website.

Michal Costello, who lives in Rancho Bernardo, said her blue-ribbon showing at the San Diego County Fair’s art exhibition marks her return to the arts.

Costello’s Westwood neighborhood was hard-hit by the Witch Creek fires of 2007. Three homes next to hers burned. Her home received extensive smoke damage, broken windows and a charred backyard.

“It took us a year to get everything repaired … it really did turn our world upside down,” she said. “Coming back from a fire takes all of your energy and you don’t have any left over to work on your art.”

Five pieces she had started before the fires were put away and remained unfinished in a box until she brought them back out last winter.

She has tried different media over the years, but said she really discovered her favorite after taking a basket weaving class in 2000. She included elements from the practice to create “woven sculptures.”

She said she developed a new way of starting baskets, and that this breakthrough is the basis for “Infinity Redux,” her blue-ribbon entry at the fair this year.

Costello has been submitting her work to the fair since 2003 (except for 2008 and 2009) and has always had at least one piece make it into the juried show.

This, however, is the first time that she’s won a blue ribbon (another sculpture received honorable mention).

“I find it very gratifying to be accepted into the show,” Costello said. “I recognized by looking at the work in the exhibit that I’m up against people that have been recognized in their field … and some of them are teachers.

“It blows me away that I’ve gone up against these people and done so well,” she added.

Coming up, Costello will have two of her pieces in “The Nature of Art— VII,” an exhibition by the Misti Washington Gourd and Basket Guild running July 1 through Aug. 28 at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe.

A reception is planned on July 25, on the same day as the adobe’s annual bluegrass festival.

The gallery is at 640 Alta Vista Drive in Vista. The viewing hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

* * * * *

Janet Perkin, a Poway resident, got a blue ribbon in the collage category for “Ancient Times.”

Perkin said this is the fourth year she has submitted her work for competition at the fair. She entered six pieces of art this year, four of them were included in the exhibition. She also got a second place in collage and two honorable mentions.

Perkin, who was traveling when the prizes were announced, said she plans on visiting the fair this week to see her artwork on display.

“I’m kind of surprised,” Perkin said. “The people who entered this show, a lot of them have fine arts degrees and they can devote a lot of time to their work.”

Perkin started painting 10 years ago, and paints whenever she can between her work in the insurance business.

“I’ve always loved art … but it wasn’t a way to make a living,” said Perkin. “When I got near retirement age, I started painting and it has totally changed my life.”

Perkin said “Ancient Times” is a religious piece that shows a picture of Mary and the baby Jesus in a cave.

“I created it about two years ago and I did enter it into an international show,” Perkin said. “It was accepted, but it didn’t win a place.”

Perkin’s work will be on display at the “Art in the Heart of Rancho Bernardo” from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 28 at UBS Financial Services, 17140 Bernardo Center Drive, Suite 350.

* * * * *

In the abstract photography category, Rancho Bernardo resident Joyce A. Mate won a blue ribbon for “Abstract 2010,” a black and white photograph that shows a photograph of “Cloud Gate,” the Chicago sculpture by Anish Kapoor that’s better known as “The Bean.”

“The unusual nature of my image is the fact that it’s of the first stage of construction, and it shows beams that were used to form the structure,” Mate said. “At first it had these seams to adhere the steel together and then it was (removed) so now it looks seamless.”

Mate said she has been submitting her work to the fair for nearly 19 years, with her work being displayed all but two years. This is her first blue ribbon.

She said she used a bit of strategy this year, submitting the photo in the abstract category instead of in architecture, where she has seen other photos of the popular sculpture in past years.

“I love abstract things,” she said. “And people do have a tough time figuring out what it is.”

Mate, an instructor and academic coach, said her passion for photography started at an early age.

“As a young girl I entered a coloring contest and won a camera,” she said. “Since them I have been making photos.”

* * * * *

Rancho Bernardo resident Jim Millard won first place in the representation watercolor category for cityscapes for his work, “Dockside.”

“This is a huge show,” Millard said. “So it was nice to win.”

Millard also got an honorable mention for another watercolor, “Yosemite Valley,” which he entered in the watercolor landscape competition. He submitted three pieces of art to the fair.

Millard, who is retired, said he was an art director and graphic designer for nearly 50 years and also painted for his own pleasure.

“All of my life I’ve been an artist, but not a full-time painter,” he said.

He works mainly in watercolor, and exhibits his art regularly at the San Diego Watercolor Society at Liberty Station. He also judges shows and teaches classes.

He also won the plein air contest last week, in which he and several other painters took to the fair and painted their impression of the fair during the day.

Millard said this was the fifth year he has entered the plein air competition. He took second place one year, but this was his first time with a first-place finish.

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Posted by unestidstwern on Jun 30 2010. Filed under Archive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry