Creative Achievement

When I was about 14, I won a prize for a drawing in a coloring book contest. My picture was not a masterwork but it was in perfect coloring book style—big, simple shapes that reproduced well as outlines to be colored in my little kids. I knew what the contest needed and I aimed for that. I think the subject of my drawing was villagers with pitchforks chasing a dragon or storming a castle.

Winning the contest was embarrassing; the drawings were turned into a coloring book given away at the next year’s summer festival and the originals were on display in the same room with the juried art. My classmates saw this childlike drawing when I knew I could do better work. Horrors!

Fortunately not all teen art prizes send tremors down the spine 25 years later.

Helen’s prizewinning pottery

My niece has a creative prize to be proud of. Her pottery bowl, Fantasia, has just won the Lorraine Franckiewicz Art Award in a juried exhibit in her town.

Unlike my coloring book drawing, Helen’s contest entry shows her true talents. She’s been making pottery for about two years and look at the beauty she can create from clay and glaze. This is a prize that is well-deserved. Congratulations, Helen!

Posted by kuri at May 20, 2005 11:12 AM