Art Show Awards - Masks of Wonder to be Auctioned

by Amy Herring and Darius Washington

Winners of the Dragon*Con 2004 Art Show were selected Sunday. Guest Judges Ann Sudworth and Charles Vess selected Best in Show and judged artists in professional, amateur and student categories. Fans attending the Art Show voted for special awards. Dragon*Con artists voted for the Artist Choice award. Results in each category are listed below.

Repeating the excitement of last year’s contest in which Anne McCaffrey judged artistic eggs created at Dragon*Con, 2004 artists competed in The Masks of Wonder contest. Participating artists received the base mold for a mask after arriving at the Art Show. Masks had to be created while at Dragon*Con and were submitted for judging by a deadline which limited the time the artist could spend designing and creating a mask.

The final masks are nothing short of incredible given the time constraints placed on the artists. The creations include masks bedecked in leaves reminiscent of the Green Man legend, several feathered masks, masks evocative of 20th Century art deco and one mask made entirely of chain mail. First and second place Masks of Wonder awards were judged by actor Virginia Hey of Farscape.

First place honors were awarded to the mask created by Mozelle Funderburk. The mask depicted a fantastic creature with horns, pointed ears, wings and teeth. The face was covered in foil-textured cloth. The mask was lined in suede and had suede ribbons with beads.

Laura Reynolds’s mask was awarded second place. The exotic bird mask is feathered with a structured beak and dangles red ribbons.

All of the Masks of Wonder were be auctioned on Monday at the Art Show auction.

Best In Show
Matthew Stuart, Doorway Gallery – “Eowyn”

Professional 1st place
Jean-Pierre Targete - “The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings”

2nd place
Richard Sardinha – “Awakening Leviathan”

3rd place
Ralph Groff – “Nightmare”

Best Photograpy
Joanne Harris – “Child’s Dream”

Best Mixed Media
audre Vysniauskas - “Storm Chaser”

Best Jewelry
Art Todd Spesser – “Reliquary 1”

Best 3-D Piece
James Hermann - “Bolt From the Blue”

Best 2-D Piece
Stanley Morrison – “Zebra Hippocampus”

Amateur 1st place
Catherine Mallard – Frodo “Iorhael”

2nd place
Shauna Precourt – “Shield of Earth”

3rd place
Brian Miskelley – “White Paper Cut Dragon on Black Paper”

Best Mixed Media
Kitsune – “Red Guard”

Best Jewelry Art
Necessarily Nyssa - “Renaissance Black”

Best 3-D Piece
Eva Chatman – “Magic Mirror”

Best 2-D Piece
Paula Tabor – “Transformation of the Children of Lyr”

Student 1st place
Lislie Bruce – “Scraller’s Place”

2nd place
Jenny Anderson – “EC-1”

3rd place
Lauren Campbell – “Flying Serpent Dragon”

Special Awards:
Best Alien
Rich Larson – “That Darn Squid God”

Best Amazon
Charles Keegan – “Exile’s Return”

Best Dragon
Georgia Horesh - “Mating Call”

Best Horror
Mike Vuolo - “Last Day”

Best Spaceship or Space Scene
Jean-Pierre Targete – “Dragon Star Emperial Supply”

Best Warrior
Georgia Horesh - “Ready?”

Most Humorous
Mike Cole – “Why Frogs Shouldn’t Drink”

Artist Choice
Jean-Pierre Targete – “Sea of Grass”

Masks of Wonder
1st place
Laura Reynolds

2nd place
Mozelle Funderburk (Judged by Virginia Hey)