Archives: Shows

Shows hosted by the North Valley Art League

NVAL 2018 Small Painting Show

January 9 – February 3, 2018

North Valley Art League

Carter House Gallery

48 Quartz Hill Road, Redding, CA 96003

 

Juror and Workshop

Stephen Bovee’ – Bisbee, AZ

Well-known and respected Artist in the Bisbee, Arizona Art community.

Workshop “Oil and Pastel Expressions”

Artists working in Acrylic are Welcome!

Assisting Stephen with the pastel part of the workshop will be Jan Searle who is also a talented part of the Bisbee Art community.

Thursday & Friday,  Jan 11 – 12 from 9:30 am – 3 pm

CLICK HERE for Full Details and Online Signup

 

SEE PROSPECTUS BELOW

Prospectus                                Printable Version/Entry Forms

 

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all artists 18 years old and over.

Work must be original, both in concept and execution.

ELIGIBLE MEDIA

Oil, Oil Pastel, Soft Pastel, Water Media, Drawing Media, Alcohol Ink, Printmaking, Mixed Media and Collage.

NON-ELIGIBLE MEDIA

Sculpture, Photography, computer generated art, Work done under supervision, which includes any in a class or workshop. Copied Work, Work previously accepted into any NVAL juried show.

Maximum size 18 x 18 including frame.

AWARDS

Best of Show — $200

First Place — $150

Second Place — $100

Third Place — $75

People’s Choice — $50 Gift Certificate

Awards of Merit — Certificates

CALENDAR

Entries Due — January 2 – 6, 2018

Notifications Mailed — January 8, 2018

Show Opens — January 9, 2018

Reception — January 12-2018

Show Closes — February 3, 2018

ENTRY FEES

Members                     $10.00

Non-Members             $15.00

Cash, Check (Payable to NVAL)

Entry fees are non-refundable

Reception & Awards

Friday, January 12, 2018

6 – 8 p.m.

Awards at approx. 7 p.m.

SELECTION & AWARDS PROCEDURE

The juror will select art work for the show from the entries submitted. Artists will receive notification by mail of selected and/or not selected entries. Awards are given at the juror’s discretion. The decision of the juror is final. Awards will be presented at the reception on Friday, January 12, 6 – 8 pm.

AGREEMENT

All reasonable care will be taken with the art work. However, North Valley Art League will not be responsible for loss or damage.

Submittal of entry constitutes an agreement on the part of the entrant to the terms and conditions of this prospectus.

SALES

California sales tax is collected by NVAL on all art work sold. NVAL retains a 20 percent commission on all sales. Paintings must remain in the Gallery for the entire show

FRAMING & HANGING REQUIREMENTS 

Entries must be framed or be finished 1.5 – 2 inch deep gallery wrapped canvases. Entries must have D-rings or equivalent securely attached to the back of the art work.

ENTRY CHECK LIST

Entries due Jan. 2– Jan 6, 2018

Attach ID to the back upper left corner

Complete Entry Application

Provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification.

Entry Fees – Cash or Check payable to NVAL

HAND DELIVERED ENTRIES ONLY

For More Information

Contact Show Chair, Deborah Vercammen

Phone 530-347-3167

Email:  russelld1254@yahoo.com

NVAL 2017 Regional Juried Photography Show Award Winners

2017 First Place - A Thousand Summers Ago by T. J. Hankins

Juror, Jon Lynn McCallum, MFA Fine Art Photography

 

Juror statement

Many thanks to the North Valley Art League and all those who submitted images into the NVAL 2017 Regional Juried Photography Show. Being chosen to view and select this work has been an honor.  Thank you.

 

When first seeing the photographs, I was delighted to see a wide spectrum of styles and approaches to image-making. Making no decisions at first, I simply enjoyed the work. Then, with the duty of “judging” at hand, my impulse was not to find reasons for rejecting work, but rather to note which ones made an inner “Wow” or “Yes”—terminology coming from a grandfather of graphic design, Milton Glaser, who stated: “There are three responses to a piece of design—yes, no, and wow! Wow is the one to aim for.” While photography is not necessarily design, the instinctive language of response resounds the same.

 

There was no clear-cut formula to this process. Sometimes “Wow” or “Yes” was found in the quality of light or in the clarity of form. Maybe it was discovered in the way an image evoked emotion, stirred imagination, or somehow suggested that the image was about “something more” than the image itself. To some degree these determinations are subjective, based more upon my personality, views, and experiences than necessarily anything the artist may or may not have intended. This is the nature of art. But as one who has seen numerous images as an art student, art educator, and ongoing art enthusiast, I never chose work for this exhibition merely because “I liked it.”

 

For an image to be selected, it had to demonstrate a kind of excellence in visual communication. Camera skill, editing technique, compositional form, lighting, decisive moment, concept, uniqueness… these attributes in and of themselves can be fascinating, but what is most interesting for me is when some mix of these elements merge together and generate a metaphorical resonance between the subject, content, appearance, and even materiality of a work. This quality can vary greatly from image to image and is impossible to put into words—visual communication speaks non-verbally. But when it speaks well, it does summon that inner voice of affirmation. I hope that you, too, can hear the “Wow” and “Yes” singing through these photographs.

Juror bio

Jon Lynn McCallum is a Northern California artist, having studied art at College of the Redwoods, Humboldt State University, and California State University, Chico, where he achieved an MFA degree in Fine Art Photography. Among several awards received as a student was the Hopper MFA Award for demonstrating “growth, accomplishment, and risk-taking” as well as “leadership and contribution to the campus and community.” While exhibiting mostly in Northern California, some of his works have gone as far as Virginia, where the renowned alternative photographer Christopher James selected some of his images, and even China for an International Photography Festival.

Since his education, McCallum has been teaching art courses at Shasta College in Redding, CA, including graphic design and art history, keeping his observational and feedback skills sharpened through regular classroom critiques. While much of his work has been based in photography, he loves creating with all kinds of media: visual work made by hand or digitally, playing guitar, and writing. Experiencing difficulty with speaking as a child, McCallum has long delighted how the arts communicate in other ways besides mere talk.

2017 Small Painting Show Award Winners

           

Juror Andrew Patterson-Tutschka  Andrew Patterson-Tutschka specializes in perceptual painting. He strives to capture the appearance of a place, its sense or feel, as well as underlying social structures. At a formal and conceptual level, Patterson-Tutschka’s representational paintings address questions pertaining to the act of perception and the relationship between structure and spontaneity.  That is to say, his paintings ask viewers how different perspectives can co-exist within the same picture. They also ask viewers to interrogate the tension between control and license. Some of Patterson-Tutschka’s most recent national exhibitions include: “Night Sun” (Southside Gallery in Oxford, Mississippi), “Perceptual Painters” exhibition (Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio); “Real and Remembrance” exhibition (Kentucky School of Art in Louisville, Kentucky); “Observation and Invention” exhibition (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); “Perceptual Painters” exhibition (University of Mississippi School of Art); and “Perceptual Painters” exhibition (39 th Street Gallery in Washington, D.C).  Andrew earned a MFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2007) and a BFA in painting and drawing from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2002). Awards include: a 2010 Josef and Anni Albers Foundation residency and a 2007 MFA Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. Patterson-Tutschka is currently represented by Elliot Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.  He is a professor of visual art at Shasta College in Redding, California.

 

NVAL 2017 Regional Juried Photography Show Prospectus

May 2 – June 3, 2017

NVAL Carter House Gallery, Redding, CA 96003

 

Note:  The NVAL International Juried Photography Show will not be held in 2017.

 

REGIONAL SHOW PROSPECTUS                              Printable Version-Click Here

 

Regional Show Framing Program —  $15 to rent one of NVAL’s frames and have NVAL frame your work.  Click Here for Details!

 

To Enter, Scroll to the bottom of the Prospectus

 

ELIGIBILITY

  This show is open to all photographers residing in Northern California and Southern Oregon defined as follows:  Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, El Dorado counties and all counties north to the California border, and the southern Oregon counties of Coos, Douglas, Curry, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Harney, and Malheur.

            Images previously accepted into a NVAL Juried Photography Show are not eligible – with the exception of images accepted into a NVAL International Juried Photography Show as a Silver Selection.

            All forms of photographic expression are encouraged:  film and digital capture, both traditional and digital darkroom, along with photo manipulation.  All entries must be the entrant’s original work, i.e. the capture of the image as well as dark room and digital processing.  This does not preclude the use of professional labs for printing, resizing, and film development.

EXHIBITION

  Our purpose is to professionally exhibit your unique artwork in our gallery for patrons to view, appreciate and purchase. Approximately 80 images will be exhibited at our spacious Carter House Gallery and also on the NVAL website.   The gallery is located in Caldwell Park, 48 Quartz Hill Road, Redding, CA 96003.

            The North Valley Art League is a non-profit, all volunteer organization.  Your entry fees cover the prize money and other expenses of running the photography show.  Any remaining monies help fund the operating expenses of the NVAL Carter House Gallery so that we can continue our goal of furthering the visual arts in the Northern California region.

 

TOTAL AWARDS – $1000

First Place  —  $500, Second Place  —  $250, Third Place  —  $100, 3 Merit Awards — $50 each, 6  Honorable Mention Awards

Only juror-accepted work submitted for gallery exhibit is eligible for awards.

 

SHOW CALENDAR

 

  
Entry Period Opens January 1, 2017
Entry Deadline Tuesday, Mar 14
Notice of Acceptance Tuesday, Mar 28
Shipped Work Due  April 12 – 28**
Hand-delivered Work Due  April 12 – 29**
Show Opens Tuesday, May 2
Reception and Awards Saturday, May 6,  5-7 pm
Pick up Unsold Work Saturday, June 3, 2-4 pm

 ** If you are using the NVAL Framing Program, submit your matted print(s) April 12 – 22 * Note Date Change. 

Special arrangements can be made if you need to deliver your work before the dates mentioned above or if you are unable to pick up any unsold work on the specified day.   Please contact show chair.     

ALL WORK SHOULD BE DELIVERED TO:  North Valley Art League, Carter House Gallery, 48 Quartz Hill Rd., Redding, CA 96003

                   

JUROR:

Jon Lynn McCallum is a Northern California artist, having studied art at College of the Redwoods, Humboldt State University, and California State University, Chico, where he achieved an MFA degree in Fine Art Photography. Among several awards received as a student was the Hopper MFA Award for demonstrating “growth, accomplishment, and risk-taking” as well as “leadership and contribution to the campus and community.” While exhibiting mostly in Northern California, some of his works have gone as far as Virginia, where the renowned alternative photographer Christopher James selected some of his images, and even China for an International Photography Festival.

Since his education, McCallum has been teaching art courses at Shasta College in Redding, CA, including graphic design and art history, keeping his observational and feedback skills sharpened through regular classroom critiques. While much of his work has been based in photography, he loves creating with all kinds of media: visual work made by hand or digitally, playing guitar, and writing. Experiencing difficulty with speaking as a child, McCallum has long delighted how the arts communicate in other ways besides mere talk.

 

ENTRY FEES  —  ALL ENTRIES WILL BE SUBMITTED ONLINE  (see instructions below)

  • $33 to enter three entries
  • $8 for each additional entry
  • No limit on the number of submittals per entrant
  • THE NON-REFUNDABLE ENTRY FEE WILL BE CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD
  • Images will be juried in electronic format as submitted, with final jurying for awards based on the framed prints presented for the Carter House Gallery exhibit.

 

ACCEPTANCE NOTICE:

Everyone who enters will receive an email notification regarding acceptance or non-acceptance by Tuesday, March 28.  Detailed instructions for delivery, shipping, and artwork identification will be detailed in the acceptance notice.

EXHIBIT PRINTS: 

All accepted images submitted for exhibition must be printed and framed either professionally or in a professional manner.  Simple dark framing with white or off-white matting is recommended.  Works must be delivered ready to hang.   Maximum frame dimension is 40” and maximum weight is 12 pounds.   NVAL hangs with cable hooks, so please use only frame hangers, D-rings or split rings for your hanging hardware.

            If framed work does not substantially meet the appearance of the JPEG entry, or if the print quality, matting or framing are not suitable quality for gallery presentation, the NVAL may ask the artist to replace whichever element is not suitable.   If the artist is unwilling to meet these standards, the NVAL reserves the right to replace the entry with another work selected by the juror.

SALE OF ARTWORK:

There will be a 20 percent commission charged by the gallery on any piece that is sold.  California sales tax will be collected.

COPYRIGHT: 

Entrants retain copyright of all their submitted images, subject to the NVAL  Use Rights listed below.

USE RIGHTS:

By submission for jurying, artists whose submissions are chosen for the exhibition grant the North Valley Art League the right to use their images for the purpose of marketing the exhibition, marketing the North Valley Art League’s programs and subsequent display on the NVAL website gallery exhibits.  Artists grant the use of their image(s) as stated without further contact or compensation from NVAL.  Artist’s recognition is provided with any use.

NVAL/GALLERY LIABILITY and INSURANCE:

Artists are solely responsible for the cost, care, protection, and insurance of their work during shipment to and from the Carter House Gallery.   For exhibited work, the North Valley Art League’s responsibility and liability for any damage or loss for whatever reason will be limited to the cost of printing and framing of the particular piece.   Every care will be taken to secure the safety of all exhibited works of art.

TO PREPARE YOUR IMAGES FOR ONLINE ENTRY PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA 

  • JPEG format
  • File size no larger than 2 MB
  • SRGB color space is recommended for the most accurate web version of your images.
  • Ideally the longest side should be 1,280 pixels. If your image is LESS than 800 pixels on the longest side, you may want to resize it using the original, larger file.  If you do not have the original larger file, do not try to upsize your image.  You are better off submitting an image as small as 600 pixels on the longest side than to distort the quality of the image by trying to increase the pixel dimension.
  • Please do not use your name in the title or filename. Make sure that your file name (not the title) does not include special characters: ‘ “ ; : { } \ / or any of the characters found above the numbers (@, #, *, etc.) except the underscore and dash.

TIPS ON USING OUR ONLINE ENTRY SERVICE

  • Our online entry service has recently launched a new enhanced version. Returning entrants will need to create a new account, if they have not already done so for another organization using the same service.   With this new version entrants will only need one account for all competitions/organizations using the service.
  • Once you set up your account, you will be asked to select the 2017 Regional Juried Photography Show. Then use your credit card to pay the entry fee and proceed to enter your images.
  • To view your images at full size double click on the thumbnail.
  • You may edit your entries or add additional images at any time up until the entry deadline.

 

TO ENTER or EDIT your Images  –  Click Here

QUESTIONS:  Email regionalphotoshow@sbcglobal.net or call chairmen, Bernie and Charlotte Bryson –  530-221-1993

 

 

 

2017 Small Painting Show

January 10 – February 4, 2017

North Valley Art League

48 Quartz Hill Road, Redding, CA 96003

 

Juror: Andrew Patterson-Tutschka, Art Instructor at Shasta College

Prospectus                                   Printable Version/Entry Forms

 

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all artists 18 years old and over.

Work must be original, both in concept and execution.

ELIGIBLE MEDIA

Oil, Oil Pastel, Soft Pastel, Water Media, Drawing Media, Alcohol Ink, Printmaking, Mixed Media and Collage.

NON-ELIGIBLE MEDIA

Sculpture, Photography, computer generated art, Work done under supervision, Work done in a class or workshop, Copied Work, Work previously accepted into any NVAL juried show.

Maximum size 18 x 18 including frame.

AWARDS

Best of Show

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

People’s Choice

Awards of Merit

$200

$150

$100

$75

$50 Gift Certificate

Certificates

CALENDAR

Entries Due

Notifications Mailed

Show Opens

Reception

Show Closes

January 3 – 7, 2017

January 9, 2017

January 10, 2017

January 13, 2017

February 4, 2017

ENTRY FEES

Members                     $10.00

Non-Members             $15.00

Cash, Check (Payable to NVAL)

Entry fees are non-refundable

Reception & Awards

Friday, January 13, 2017

6 – 8 p.m.

Awards at approx. 7:00 p.m.

 

SELECTION & AWARDS PROCEDURE

The juror will select art work for the show from the entries submitted. Artists will receive notification by mail of selected and/or not selected entries. Awards are given at the juror’s discretion. The decision of the juror is final. Awards will be presented at the reception on Friday, January 13, 6 – 8 pm.

AGREEMENT

All reasonable care will be taken with the art work. However, North Valley Art League will not be responsible for loss or damage.

Submittal of entry constitutes an agreement on the part of the entrant to the terms and conditions of this prospectus.

SALES

California sales tax is collected by NVAL on all art work sold. NVAL retains a 20 percent commission on all sales. Paintings must remain in the Gallery for the entire show

FRAMING & HANGING REQUIREMENTS 

Entries must be framed or be finished 1.5 – 2 inch deep gallery wrapped canvases. Entries must have D-rings or equivalent securely attached to the back of the art work.

ENTRY CHECK LIST

Entries due Jan. 3– Jan 7, 2017

Attach ID to the back upper left corner

Complete Entry Application

Provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification.

Entry Fees – Cash or Check payable to NVAL

HAND DELIVERED ENTRIES ONLY

For More Information Contact:

NVAL – (530) 243-1023

Tues. – Sat. 11 – 4

E-mail – NVAL@sbcglobal.net

32nd National Painting Show – 2016 Winners

Keith Thomson, FL Winner 2016

juror  

Jeannie Vodden is an award-winning water-colorist, demonstrator, judge, and has been a popular watercolor instructor in California, Wyoming and Washington for over 20 years. She is an active exhibitor throughout California. Hailing from near the picturesque town of Jackson, CA., Ms. Vodden’s preference for the complex play of form and light is balanced by her use of a very simple palette. The visual effects are revealed in an unusual feeling of depth of color resulting in stunning and unique works of art. Her work has been published in both Pratique des Art Magazine in France and Artist Palette Magazine in Australia. To see more of her work go to www.jeannievodden.com.

 

Jeannie Vodden’s interest in the variety of textures and patterns found in both natural and man-made objects is the starting point for most of her paintings.  She adds natural light, sometimes a figure, occasionally a dash of fantasy, and pulls it all together with a limited palette.
Her preference for the complex play of form and light is balanced by her use of a very simple palette.  Starting with only three colors, and seldom using more than six, she glazes many transparent layers.   Each layer modifies the last, changing the color and adding a multi-leveled glow.   Though the process takes some patience, practice and understanding, the visual effects are revealed in an unusual feeling of depth of color.  The results are stunning and unique.
Jeannie is a popular instructor of watercolor.  She has taught workshops throughout California and in Wyoming and Washington State for 20 years.  She enjoys demonstrating her watercolor techniques to art and community organizations and finds the challenge of judging art competitions rewarding and inspiring.
She has shown her work in galleries and businesses in Sacramento, Lodi and Stockton and throughout California.
A few of her many awards and activities include: 
  • Award in California Watercolor Association 2015 Art Exhibition          
  • Acceptance into National Watercolor Society 95th Exhibition 2015
  • Awards in the Stockton Art League’s competition at the Haggin Museum
  • Acceptance into the prestigious 2000 and 2002 Crocker Kingsley competition at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Ca.
  • Awards at the “California Works” fine art competition at the California State Fair
  • Honorable Mentions at the KVIE Annual Art Auction
  • Many Best of Show and People’s Choice Awards
  • The State of California has purchased two of her paintings for its archives.
  • For years she demonstrated in the “California Works” Fine Art Show at the California State Fair, sharing her work and talking to visitors of the well-regarded fine art venue.
  • In the fall she opens her home studio to the public for the Amador County Art Studio Tours.
  • Jeannie designs a theme fair window at the Amador County Fair in Plymouth, CA each year for the Amador Stars, the local Cancer support organization.
  • For 2010 and 2011 and 2014 wine release she has designed unique and beautiful fine art wine labels for Young’s Vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley, California.
Website:  www.jeannievodden.com

 

NVAL 2016 International Juried Photography Show Winners Gallery

Matthew Emmett, Reading, United Kingdom, Winner 2016

JUROR STATEMENT  •  Jack Fulton Professor Emeritus, San Francisco Art Institute

21st Century State of the Art: Trying to Incite Insight
        In this 21st century the World Wide Web would not be what it is without photography as a prime medium of communication. One might go so far to say it has become a verbal medium as one might view and comment on a site like Snapchat.
        Apple, the world’s largest company, with its iPhone & Pad, created such a simple imaging tool, which along with the WWW has made ‘the photograph’ the world’s most ubiquitous visual experience. The medium, in which let us include video, is presently changing destinies, traditions and political realms in countries throughout the world.
        With this onset of non-verbal communication are ‘hits’ or ‘likes’ from web sites that not only garner attention but influence others to emulate successes with the result being tens of thousands of look-alike photographs. Such constant input ultimately creates prevailing themes and ways of doing things to or with the photographic image. In recent years apps, add-on programs for Photoshop/Lightroom software, have provided yet more image enhancement and manipulation. Companies now provide quality printing such as the supercilious named Giclee print, the dye sublimation print, prints mounted on aluminum and a host of presentations of a multitude of papers, canvas, silk etc. The majority of these tools and methodologies are intended to elevate the image to the point where it can be called Art.
         Therefore, with these advantages, the majority of which provide the user with a very good quality photographic presentation, it is increasingly difficult to say that one image is ‘better’ than the other. Accompanying this multiplication of digital imagery is a renewed interest in the medium’s historical processes, once called alternative. These too have been aided by digital techniques but it is a pleasure to see cyanotypes, Pl/Pd, gum bichromate, carbon, bromoil et alia techniques practiced today in light of the preponderant digital ink print.
         Due to this ease of excellence, which has been observed in judging other photographic contests, composition related to content is of key importance as is context, metaphor and even simile, all tools of the writer. The idea is to peruse each image in order to find the author, the one who has seen the ordinary and turned that into the exceptional . . . or, perhaps better put, has proffered to the viewer insight into what is being thought by the photographer about what they are observing. A simpler way is to say the photographer has made an image, not taken it.
        Plagiarizing, emulating and success with either of those tactics does not create an outstanding work, one that holds emotional content . . . and while the term lyrical comes to mind that is but one of the human expressions available to pursue. Ultimately it is about expression . . . the chiaroscuro of a non-color photograph; how, in the viewing one’s perspective rises to see a poetic description; what sort of a dialogue has been created by the author with the viewer; and, in the context of our time does the dialogue speak in the visual language of our time to provide meaning in our lives. What the goal is is to be a person of content living in an age of style.
JURYING:
This 2016 NVAL Photography Exhibit shows approximately 16% of the entries. For you reading this, it took me a minimum of a week going forth and back over the entries to whittle down the applications to its present form. Throughout was an eye for composition, content and context and the final jurying buoyed by print quality. It is my hope those viewing this fine set of photographs will not only enjoy the works but take inspiration from the author’s vision. We all have something to learn.
It is a daunting task to dig deeply into the psyche and choose an overall first place, two seconds, three thirds and ten honorable mentions.   Are my picks astute and relevant or are all of the photographs of an equivalent value and quality?  Each of these images exemplify the artist’s thought processes, political values, nostalgic tendencies, and exuberant concrete understandings all manifested in really quite fitting photographic prints. I found the quality overall to be excellent and the shape, size and choice of color or chiaroscuro to be finely honed.
There are phenomena to consider, as Roland Barthes, in his book “Camera Lucida” (one could interpret that loosely as: a box of light . . . quite romantic in the description of a camera) describes two terms all photographs hold: the studium and the punctum. One can loosely infer the whole photograph itself is the studium, or studio, representing the raison d’etre (reason for being) of the photographer’s vision. And the punctum being the reason, the needle’s prick that pops the balloon. When you peruse each of the chosen photographs these two points of reasoning ought to allow you to interpret the intent of the image maker’s thought.

 

NVAL 2016 International Juried Photography Show Gold Selections

JUROR STATEMENT  •  Jack Fulton Professor Emeritus, San Francisco Art Institute

21st Century State of the Art: Trying to Incite Insight
        In this 21st century the World Wide Web would not be what it is without photography as a prime medium of communication. One might go so far to say it has become a verbal medium as one might view and comment on a site like Snapchat.
        Apple, the world’s largest company, with its iPhone & Pad, created such a simple imaging tool, which along with the WWW has made ‘the photograph’ the world’s most ubiquitous visual experience. The medium, in which let us include video, is presently changing destinies, traditions and political realms in countries throughout the world.
        With this onset of non-verbal communication are ‘hits’ or ‘likes’ from web sites that not only garner attention but influence others to emulate successes with the result being tens of thousands of look-alike photographs. Such constant input ultimately creates prevailing themes and ways of doing things to or with the photographic image. In recent years apps, add-on programs for Photoshop/Lightroom software, have provided yet more image enhancement and manipulation. Companies now provide quality printing such as the supercilious named Giclee print, the dye sublimation print, prints mounted on aluminum and a host of presentations of a multitude of papers, canvas, silk etc. The majority of these tools and methodologies are intended to elevate the image to the point where it can be called Art.
         Therefore, with these advantages, the majority of which provide the user with a very good quality photographic presentation, it is increasingly difficult to say that one image is ‘better’ than the other. Accompanying this multiplication of digital imagery is a renewed interest in the medium’s historical processes, once called alternative. These too have been aided by digital techniques but it is a pleasure to see cyanotypes, Pl/Pd, gum bichromate, carbon, bromoil et alia techniques practiced today in light of the preponderant digital ink print.
         Due to this ease of excellence, which has been observed in judging other photographic contests, composition related to content is of key importance as is context, metaphor and even simile, all tools of the writer. The idea is to peruse each image in order to find the author, the one who has seen the ordinary and turned that into the exceptional . . . or, perhaps better put, has proffered to the viewer insight into what is being thought by the photographer about what they are observing. A simpler way is to say the photographer has made an image, not taken it.
        Plagiarizing, emulating and success with either of those tactics does not create an outstanding work, one that holds emotional content . . . and while the term lyrical comes to mind that is but one of the human expressions available to pursue. Ultimately it is about expression . . . the chiaroscuro of a non-color photograph; how, in the viewing one’s perspective rises to see a poetic description; what sort of a dialogue has been created by the author with the viewer; and, in the context of our time does the dialogue speak in the visual language of our time to provide meaning in our lives. What the goal is is to be a person of content living in an age of style.

 

Juror Bio

        Jack Fulton has been involved with photography as a fine art since 1965. He has taught in the Photography Department of the San Francisco Art Institute from 1969 to 2013 and was Chair of the Department for approximately half that period.  He designed the complete darkroom facilities and curriculum, also introducing color, historic processes and the digital environment.
        He has also taught at UC Santa Cruz, Colorado College, Emily Carr in Vancouver, Ansel Adams Yosemite workshops, the Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego, Anderson Ranch and in Lisbon Portugal.
        His practice is interdisciplinary and presently primarily digital.  His body of work has earned him numerous awards among which are two NEA Fellowships (1970 and 1990) and an NEA Publishing award, which brought forth a book on walking in the Sierra Nevada:  2 Saunters: Summer & Winter. 
        His work has been exhibited and collected in Paris, London, NYC, Portugal, and a number of national venues, including SFMOMA; Oakland Museum; Los Angeles County Museum; University of AZ; Chicago Art Institute; Biblioteque Nationale, Paris; Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris; Seagram’s; UNOCAL; DiRosa Foundation (Napa, CA); San Jose Museum of Art, and multiple private collections.
        He has been selected to judge photography and fine arts work in Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada and California.  Jack enjoys and appreciates a wide variety of style, technique and subject matter, but to see some of his more recent work go to his website – JackFulton.net.  To learn more about Jack view —  https://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/81636-jack-fulton

 

NVAL 2016 International Juried Photography Show Silver Selections

JUROR STATEMENT  •  Jack Fulton Professor Emeritus, San Francisco Art Institute

21st Century State of the Art: Trying to Incite Insight
        In this 21st century the World Wide Web would not be what it is without photography as a prime medium of communication. One might go so far to say it has become a verbal medium as one might view and comment on a site like Snapchat.
        Apple, the world’s largest company, with its iPhone & Pad, created such a simple imaging tool, which along with the WWW has made ‘the photograph’ the world’s most ubiquitous visual experience. The medium, in which let us include video, is presently changing destinies, traditions and political realms in countries throughout the world.
        With this onset of non-verbal communication are ‘hits’ or ‘likes’ from web sites that not only garner attention but influence others to emulate successes with the result being tens of thousands of look-alike photographs. Such constant input ultimately creates prevailing themes and ways of doing things to or with the photographic image. In recent years apps, add-on programs for Photoshop/Lightroom software, have provided yet more image enhancement and manipulation. Companies now provide quality printing such as the supercilious named Giclee print, the dye sublimation print, prints mounted on aluminum and a host of presentations of a multitude of papers, canvas, silk etc. The majority of these tools and methodologies are intended to elevate the image to the point where it can be called Art.
         Therefore, with these advantages, the majority of which provide the user with a very good quality photographic presentation, it is increasingly difficult to say that one image is ‘better’ than the other. Accompanying this multiplication of digital imagery is a renewed interest in the medium’s historical processes, once called alternative. These too have been aided by digital techniques but it is a pleasure to see cyanotypes, Pl/Pd, gum bichromate, carbon, bromoil et alia techniques practiced today in light of the preponderant digital ink print.
         Due to this ease of excellence, which has been observed in judging other photographic contests, composition related to content is of key importance as is context, metaphor and even simile, all tools of the writer. The idea is to peruse each image in order to find the author, the one who has seen the ordinary and turned that into the exceptional . . . or, perhaps better put, has proffered to the viewer insight into what is being thought by the photographer about what they are observing. A simpler way is to say the photographer has made an image, not taken it.
        Plagiarizing, emulating and success with either of those tactics does not create an outstanding work, one that holds emotional content . . . and while the term lyrical comes to mind that is but one of the human expressions available to pursue. Ultimately it is about expression . . . the chiaroscuro of a non-color photograph; how, in the viewing one’s perspective rises to see a poetic description; what sort of a dialogue has been created by the author with the viewer; and, in the context of our time does the dialogue speak in the visual language of our time to provide meaning in our lives. What the goal is is to be a person of content living in an age of style.

Juror Bio

        Jack Fulton has been involved with photography as a fine art since 1965. He has taught in the Photography Department of the San Francisco Art Institute from 1969 to 2013 and was Chair of the Department for approximately half that period.  He designed the complete darkroom facilities and curriculum, also introducing color, historic processes and the digital environment.
        He has also taught at UC Santa Cruz, Colorado College, Emily Carr in Vancouver, Ansel Adams Yosemite workshops, the Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego, Anderson Ranch and in Lisbon Portugal.
        His practice is interdisciplinary and presently primarily digital.  His body of work has earned him numerous awards among which are two NEA Fellowships (1970 and 1990) and an NEA Publishing award, which brought forth a book on walking in the Sierra Nevada:  2 Saunters: Summer & Winter. 
        His work has been exhibited and collected in Paris, London, NYC, Portugal, and a number of national venues, including SFMOMA; Oakland Museum; Los Angeles County Museum; University of AZ; Chicago Art Institute; Biblioteque Nationale, Paris; Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris; Seagram’s; UNOCAL; DiRosa Foundation (Napa, CA); San Jose Museum of Art, and multiple private collections.
        He has been selected to judge photography and fine arts work in Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada and California.  Jack enjoys and appreciates a wide variety of style, technique and subject matter, but to see some of his more recent work go to his website – JackFulton.net.  To learn more about Jack view —  https://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/81636-jack-fulton

NVAL 2016 Regional Juried Photography Show Award Winners

JUROR –  Michael Eichwald – Bio

Michael Eichwald is an award winning photographer living in Redding. While in Europe as a young student he was strongly influenced by an uncle who was a professional photographer in London, and also by a second uncle who was active in the academic study of art and visual perception. From these early experiences came a continuing interest in visual aesthetics.  For many years his personal photography took a back seat to the practice of dermatology. With retirement, however, he was able once again to pursue his interest in what makes one image art and another simple craft, as well as to actively support the local appreciation of creative photography.  He is an active member of the North Valley Art League, and for some years was the chairperson for the league’s Regional Juried Photography Show. His participation in the local visual art world includes membership in the North State Photography association, Artist’s Gathering, and the Salon Artists Group. Mike’s interest in judging comes, then, from a broad perspective that includes a continuing desire to recognize, define, and encourage photography as an art form. He has judged local competitions and was named a preliminary judge for the prestigious Michael Kellicutt Juried Competition of 2011.

 

JUROR’S STATEMENT

“Real art makes demands. Comfortable art is mediocre.”   —  Sister Wendy Beckett
Every passing year the quality of our regional photography gets better and better, which makes it that much harder to judge. All of the entries were good photographs, but the accepted ones had in common something that the others might have lacked: they clearly presented the subject as art, and not just documentation.
I am treading on dangerous ground when I reply to the question of just what I mean by art, but here goes anyway: art is for us an expression or impression of something that goes where words cannot. Music might be the clearest example of this.
As to “Photography as Art,” I rely heavily on the accepted nomenclature that can be classified under the basic headings of technique, form, and content.
Technique, it goes without saying, simply means a mastery of one’s tools in a manner appropriate for the content and meaning of the picture.
Form has several different definitions, but for our purposes it shall mean how the elements of design and technique are put together to create a visually balanced and harmonious Whole. It is this criterion that is, for me, a most important factor in judging artistic quality. I like to advise young artists that “how it looks” is more important than “what it is.”
Content refers to whatever impression or expression the artist intends to convey.  This might, and probably should, include such elements as originality, imagination, evocation, impact….
All of the pictures on these walls fill my criteria admirably, but happily in widely individualistic and satisfying ways. The traditional landscapes you see here are uniquely original in their capture, particularly as to color (I see color as “color chords”)
and the subtleness of tonality. In addition we have examples of composite humor hanging next to an artistic capture of a natural object (more than “just another flower….”), and then even an extreme abstraction (think music again).
Finally, it is evident that we as photographers have definitively entered the digital era full force. It is my firm belief that we as artists and appreciators are the better for it.
Editing and manipulating photographs as art is nothing new, but now we have the additional power of modern digital cameras and the incomparable versatility of computerized scanning and editing (read Photoshop). This incredible capability is
simply a new artistic palate with which to exercise our creativity, and here there are many fine examples of what might be called the New Frontier.
Enjoy,
Michael Eichwald