11.3.09

Through the Eyes of a Child: A Feast for the Eyes

Through the Eyes of a Child... 20x16 acrylic ©Sandi Whetzel


Through the Eyes of a Child..., was conceived to illustrate the theme, "A Feast for the Eyes", for the Umpqua Valley Arts Association Annual Summer Arts Festival to be held in Roseburg, OR the last weekend of June 2009. Although it was not selected to promote the festival, I did enjoy dreaming up the concept and painting it. I feel it successfully conveys the wonder of seeing through the eyes of a child. I'm very glad I took the challenge to compete for the poster. I never would have thought of doing this painting without the impetus of the poster competition.

The process of inventing an image to illustrate a pre-determined theme forces me to envision paintings that would not otherwise occur to me. These activities stretch my creativity. Some very successful paintings have come about by accepting these challenges.

Of course, when I do win the poster competitions, that is a bonus. So far, images of my paintings have been used to promote several events: the 2004 "Art About Wine Exhibit", the 2005 Umpqua Valley Art and Wine Festival, the 2006 "Greatest of the Grape" and the upcoming 2009 Glide Wildflower Society Show. In addition, one of my wine series paintings has been chosen to appear on a special bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon for fund raising events and art receptions held by DIVA, (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts), in 2009 in Eugene, OR.

Two of the paintings I conceived for poster competitions that were not selected for the posters sold rather quickly. That's sweet revenge. It keeps me going in these pursuits besides creating other paintings of my own choosing.

through the eyes
Originally uploaded by sandiwhetzel

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