To contact these Best in Show artists directly for purchase inquiries or to see more of their work, please visit the 7th Annual Colors Art Exhibition page for contact information.
Congratulations again to the winners and thank you for sharing your talent with us.
Best in Show (Traditional) – Gwendolyn Ballantyne – “MYSTIC” – oil on panel
Gwendolyn Ballantyne is a fine artist based in Los Angeles. Her eclectic and diverse subjects reflect her love of history, culture, mythology and visual storytelling. She works in a contemporary realistic style with traditional oil and drawing mediums, but enjoys using dramatic colors and enhancing values to create an emotional expression of the subject.
She received a BA in fine art, and another in anthropology at UCSC. She went on to earn an MFA in production design from CalArts, which led her to her award-winning career designing for the entertainment industry. Over the last 28 years she has worked as an art director, concept designer, painter, sculptor and illustrator on large-scale projects around the world. She has worked for Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Her favorite projects have included Journey to the Center of the Earth at Tokyo DisneySea, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, World Expo Dubai 2020, NatureQuest at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, and the upcoming Universal’s Epic Universe.
According to Gwendolyn, “I have always been interested in telling stories with my artwork. As I create, I love to reveal the mystery in a subject, whether through composition, the ambiguity of a facial expression, or the interplay of dark and light. Everywhere I look I see a bit of magic in the mundane. Painting helps me to unravel the mysteries in life and discover the hidden stories waiting to be told all around us.”
To learn more about her and to see more of her work, please visit her website.
Best in Show (Photography & Digital) – Dave Lee – “LIGHTNING HAS BEEN DETECTED IN YOUR AREA” – digital art
Dave Lee is a digital artist who creates artwork, using the latest computers and graphics software available today. As a lifelong resident of Indiana, he has been creating art since his early years in Indianapolis. As Dave experimented with various art-creation mediums over the years and enrolled in various art classes, he struggled to find a style and medium that would enhance his natural art abilities. His attempts to paint with watercolors, acrylics and oils ended with unsatisfactory work and results.
In the early 1990’s, he purchased his first personal computer to use in graphic design work. This was at a time when virtually no one owned a personal computer. Over the years, as his skills improved, Dave realized that today’s computers and software were the perfect tools for him to use as the new “brush and canvas” combination for digital art creation. With more than 25 years of computer experience, he uses these components to create popular, digital artwork with qualities that far surpass the art he created long ago.
Currently, Dave is inspired to create his digital art based mostly on nature, rural scenes and architecture, and he continues to experiment with different subjects and styles. Today, art creation is Dave’s passion and he’s blessed to have considerable time to devote to his efforts.
To learn more about Dave and to see more of his work, please visit his website.
Best in Show (3 Dimensional) – Lollie Ortiz – “NIGHT CITY” – acrylic plastic cubes on checkerboard design wood base
My Dreamland is to tap into my sculptural path that vibrates with my love of abstraction, movies, pop art and iconic symbols. A world in which I not only can get lost in but reflect a past that transforms into a collection of memories I desire to share with an eager audience. This includes work that empowers my imagination to fuse together an array of shapes, textures and colors that translate into my own story of fantasy and visual exploration.
To learn more about Lollie and to see more of her work, please visit her website.
