Silver Medalist : International Print Competition (IPC) 2020
In a year filled with strange twists and turns largely driven by the COVID19 pandemic – including not being able to open my new photography studios in Jacksonville, Florida – I was still able to continue to hone my craft and raise the bar in my photographic skills through print competitions.
The penultimate print competition, IPC (held by the Professional Photographers of America [PPA]), had more than 5000 entries and from that only 128 competitors were awarded as Silver Medalists.
I am thrilled to announce that my photographic open case, which contained THREE dog potraits, was awarded a Silver Medal.
Additionally, an Artist image I created was selected for the General Collection.
Fierce and Fabulous
This magnificent Doberman Pinscher is "Zena" and her image was taken as a client image. Zena is an amazing dog and has more titles after her name than I really thought possible. She is also a registered therapy dog and before COVID19 hit us all, she was a regular visitor to local health facilities with her equally as amazing owner.
Schohaus Winter Zenith v Azar CDX, BN, RM, SCA, SIN, SBN, RATN, CGCA, TKP
Please?
This image is a digital painting (painted completely by hand, using a Wacom tablet and artist's pen in Photoshop). It is of one of our little girls in our pack of four Havanese. "Carmen" is 9 -years old and is my husband's "little girl." Carmen is the daughter of an AKC Champion (Taffy) who was shown at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show by my daughter when she was a top-ranked Junior Handler.
"Please?" is my first entry of painted pieces using a photograph as a reference image. I am excited to announce, too, that paintings will soon be a new line of work available to my clients. Many don't know this but I grew up in a very artistic family and spent my summers (in addition to sports camps, dog showing and horses, horses, horses) at watercolor camps, working with charcoals, etc. Organic painting is something I enjoyed for years and years (even won an art competition as a child!), so this return to a new form of painting is really something I enjoy greatly.
And... adding a painted line to my offerings at Joan H Walker PAWtography is particularly exciting as I can work with clients and their dogs anywhere in the world. More on this line of work coming shortly!
Additionally, I am delighted that this image was selected for the LOAN Collection -- the highest honor an image can receive during judging at IPC.
Stargazers
This image is one of my favorites and a concept that came to fruition on a rather buggy early fall night.
The concept was to photograph these two amazing Vizsla girls (Suki and Cypress) on a dock in the marshes with the Milky Way in the background. I had a crew of three assistants and the Vizsla girls' human mom and dad all helping. And thousands of very hungry mosquitos.
The Vizslas, as always, were perfect.
The Milky Way was perfect.
And here you have one of my favorite images of the year, "Stargazers."
Stained
This image is from a recent trip to France (Pre-COVID19) and is a photograph of the interior of the L'Eglise St. Sauveur in Petit-Andely, (Normandy) France. The construction of the church began in 1220 and was completed in the 15th century.In addition to notable statues from the 16th and 17th centuries, the church is home to the oldest, working pipe organ in France. The town of Petit-Andely is located on the Seine River and is also home to Chateau Gaillard, a quite (in)famous castle set high on the bluffs overlooking the river.
The image is two images (one photographed for the shadows and one for the highlights) stacked together to bring out what the eye can see but the camera can't quite obtain in one single capture. Challenges to capture this image included waiting for an opportunity when tourists were not milling about and taking the two bracketed images handheld.
"Stained" is titled for the stained glass windows, the water stain on the top of the dome and for the "stain" of the Holy Inquisition, which began in France in the 12th century.
Three Wise Monkeys
Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil
This art piece is my first merited Artist entry at the international level. For this painting, I used a Dracula orchid image (which are also called "Monkey Face Orchids" for a good reason!) that Hausermann Orchids graciously allowed me to use as a reference image in painting the three wise monkeys (Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil).
This painting was hand painted entirely using a Wacom table, art pen, and brushes in Photoshop.