2020 Small Stones Festival of the Arts
Welcome to the Small Stones Festival of the Arts - 2020 COVID-19 Edition
Awards Note: Jurors' Choice Awards were also given to each of the First and Second Prizewinners in each category, alhtough this gallery only supports showing one prize per work.
- VIEWING - Click on an image for a larger view.
- NAVIGATION - The images are sorted with prizewinners first (note that most prizes will be awarded on October 23), then alphabetically by artist last name. Note that there are 25 pages in the gallery - use the page selector to see more entries.
- SEARCHING - You can enter an artist's first or last name in the search box to find a given artist.
- FILTERING - You can create a filtered view to see only paintings or photography by selecting a choice in the Category Filter box. You can see only those entries selected by our jury for inclusion in our printed catalog by using the Tag Filter. The Tag Filter also allows you to view entries by members of the Blackstone Valley Art Association or Worcester County Camera Club.
- VOTING - Voting is now closed.
- PURCHASING ARTWORK - This year, Small Stones Festival is not directly selling any of the artwork on exhibition. If you wish to purchase an artwork, some of the works include a web address for the artist, allowing you to contact them directly via their website. For others, we will relay any messages sent to artists@smallstonesfestival.org. Specify which artist you wish to contact and provide your contact information.
All Categories
Ghost Flowers
Danielle Bonica
$50.00
Artist statement: I enjoy working backwards from traditional drawing. The idea of focusing on the light instead of the dark is great way to make artwork.
Specific medium: White charcoal
Ghost Flowers
Danielle Bonica
$50.00
Artist statement: I enjoy working backwards from traditional drawing. The idea of focusing on the light instead of the dark is great way to make artwork.
Specific medium: White charcoal
Daylilies
Deborah Bottomley
$300.00
BVAA Member
Artist statement: New to painting Plein Air and wanting to practice working outdoors, I took my easel out to the backyard and began painting the daylilies. I was drawn to the shadow patterns on the weathered wood fence and the contrast of the bright flowers against the cool shade of the woods.
Specific medium: Dry Pastel on Richeson textured paper
Morning Sun
Deborah Bottomley
$300.00
Selected for catalog BVAA Member
Artist statement: I love the morning light as it shines in our sunroom creating patterns with shadows, glowing thru a shell and colored glass. As an Artist I'm drawn to the contrast of light and dark.
Specific medium: watercolor on 140lb cold press
Forest Glow
Deborah Bottomley
$400.00
BVAA Member
Artist statement: As an artist I'm drawn to the effects of light and atmosphere. The photo I used for reference was taken while on a local hiking trail. I remember the serenity of the peaceful glow filling the clearing and tried to capture that feeling with my brush.
Specific medium: Oil on Canvas Panel
Determined Cowboy
Jim Brady
Selected for catalog
Artist statement: Rodeo cowboys are a special breed of athletes, pitting their strength, experience, and skill against opponents that outweigh them by hundreds of pounds.
Specific medium: Digital photograph
Ascent to a Star
Jim Brady
Selected for catalog
Artist statement: A mixed media (photography and digital manipulation) depiction of a transition from the corporeal to the spiritual world.
Specific medium: Photograph
Ballerina in Red
Jim Brady
Selected for catalog
Artist statement: It takes years of sacrifice and training to become a professional ballerina. The journey is fraught with physical and emotional pain and only the most dedicated and talented succeed. Photographing dancers is one of my favorite subjects.
Specific medium: Digital photograph
Union Station, Worcester
Scott Britz-Cunningham
$100.00
Artist statement: I enjoy the photographer Ansel Adams and taking B&W photos working on composition, intersecting forms, lighting and interesting viewpoints. I was struck by the design elements that the stairs created in this photo.
Specific medium: Digital photograph
Buzzzzz
Stephanie Brown
Artist statement: I watched several bees for quite a long time studying how they hopped from flower to flower, being very meticulous to gather every little last bit. As they landed on the tip top of the lavender, the stems would bend and sway with their weight until the bee would move onto the next petals.
Specific medium: Photograph
Gracie
Stephanie Brown
Artist statement: This old girl spends much of her time lazing in the grass watching the world go by. At this time, I decided to lay there with her watching the intensity of her gaze just soaking up the evening sun.
Specific medium: Photograph
Old Canoe Trail at Siog
Stephanie Brown
Artist statement: Sometimes the simplest times make the best memories. When I took this photograph, I had spent the morning with my mother who I had not seen for quite some time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We walked for hours on the trail beside the Lake Siog Canoe Trail which is a wildlife haven between Holland and Brimfield, MA. We explored, chatted and laughed and just enjoyed being with each other after being apart for so long. For me, this photograph has a feeling of solitude much like the pandemic.
Specific medium: Photograph
Wheelbarrows
Maria Buckley
Selected for catalog
Artist statement: This photo strikes me as a symbol of satisfaction that comes from a hard day of work and readiness to start the process again the next morning.
Specific medium: photograph
Aerial View of Blue Sky and Clouds
Maria Buckley
Artist statement: This view from a plane in flight evokes a feeling of floating safely in the sky above the clouds.
Specific medium: photograph
Fire in Her Eyes
Jennessa Burks
$1,900.00
Selected for catalog
Submission Url:
Artist statement: For two years my daughter has asked increasingly difficult questions regarding the treatment of others. Each time we dive into discussions about equity I feel as though another sliver of innocence is lost. Her face reflects discontentment, not the joy I've known. She grapples with society; Why are certain groups treated less fairly, less appreciated, less humane? She has the heart of a social justice activist and I’m not sure where that will take her. All I know is there’s a fire in her eyes.
Specific medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Behind Closed Doors
Jennessa Burks
$2,200.00
Artist statement: This self portrait captures the emotional toll of our nation's current state. We are impacted by economic difficulties and health risks of a global pandemic alongside exhaustion and mental health issues amplified by social isolation. Many Black women in particular are navigating our current climate while simultaneously advocating for the safety of our friends and family with a pressure to be stronger than humanly possible. Many of us fight through the day only to fall apart behind closed doors.
Specific medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Serene Queen
Jennessa Burks
$1,300.00
Artist statement: The piece draws inspiration from underappreciated beauty: serenity found in nature and the natural features of a Black woman. The fusion aspires to encourage higher appreciation for the beauty of both. Although we may find her full lips, a broadened nose and piercing eyes captivating in combination with the serene views of an oasis escape they are often missing from the images adorning the walls of art spaces. It raises the questions: who are we admiring, appreciating and uplifting with the arts
Specific medium: Acrylic on Canvas
A Rising Tide
Jill Burns
$75.00
Artist statement: In the midst of troubling times this work is inspired by a hopeful message from a line in a JFK speech "a rising tide lifts all boats".
Specific medium: digital
Blue and Red
Kevin Burns
Submission Url:
Artist statement: Familiar faces from an earlier election are rendered in blue and red shapes that shift back and forth from foreground to background. This work was inspired by a study of line drawings made without lifting the pen from the page. The resulting drawings have the mathematical properties of Euler graphs, named after the famous geometer. One such property is that the graph can be filled using only two colors, such as blue and red, with each line of the drawing representing a blue-red border.
Specific medium: Diptych, color woodcut.
Cuban Ballerinas
Jim Calarese
$195.00
Artist statement: Original photograph cropped very tightly and manipulated in phtoshop.
Specific medium: Digital photograph
Page 4 of 25, showing 20 records out of 495 total, starting on record 61, ending on 80
