The heat didn’t faze the participants in Paint It! Ellicott City, an event that recently wrapped up in Maryland. Alison Leigh Menke won two awards.
Menke and Debra Howard both won $1,000 Gino Awards, the highest honor given at the event. Menke also won Paint Down Main, a quick-draw competition.
“Steps to Church Street,” by Debra Howard. Recipient of the Gino Award
Judge Gino Molfino also gave out Juror Awards. First Place went to Greg Johannesen for “St. Paul Street.” Second went to John Slivjak for “House on Hill Street.” Third Place was won by David Diaz for “First Light,” and Fourth went to Duane Sabiston for “Splash in Patapsco.” Sharon Trumbull and Raymond Ewing won Honorable Mention.
The Howard County Blossoms of Hope Award for Best Depiction of Nature was won by Randall Graham for his piece “Afternoon Clouds,” and the Patapsco Heritage Greenway Award for Best Depiction of the Patapsco River went to Courtney E. Lee for “Mill View.”
Award winners at Paint It! Ellicott City
In addition to the juried artists, there was an open division at the event that boasted winners. Mary Jo Tydlacka won the Howard County Tourism Director’s Choice Award for “Three Musketeers,” and Jane Knighton won the Howard County Arts Council Director’s Choice Award with “Main Street Aglow.”
Menke’s winning painting from Paint Down Main
In the Paint Down Main quick-draw competition, Menke won with “Hot Hot Ellicott City Main Street,” Courtney E. Lee won Second Place with “Little House, Big Woods,” and Raymond Ewing won Third with “Wired.” In the Open division, Jane Knighton won with “Tiber River—Under Parking Lot,” with Joanna Barnum, Ann Crostic, Deborah Cole, and Tara Will earning Honorable Mention. In the Under 18 division, Ashley Hof won with “Oriental Rugs.”
People’s Choice went to Tara Will for “Old Columbia Pike.”
“Cooling Down,” by Alison Leigh Menke. Gino Award winner
“Paint It! Ellicott City is one of the better events I’ve been fortunate enough to attend,” says Menke. “It’s a very uniquely structured city that is built into solid rock and in many areas suspended over water. There is amazing history here and great pride among locals. Volunteers were circling the town with water and supplies for all the artists, and families were popping in and out of quaint shops to watch us paint. I hope more artists come to Ellicott City to paint in 2017. Juried or not, you can’t find a more plentiful treasure trove of architectural interest to paint.”
“Afternoon Clouds,” by Randall Graham. Best Depiction of Nature
Said Coleen West, Howard County Arts Council executive director, “We were thrilled to have a record number of artists participating this year, which we attribute to having PleinAir magazine editor Stephen Doherty as our esteemed selection juror. Stephen’s wonderful presentation during our orientation event motivated the artists to go out and ‘paint the town!’ We also had a record number of artists (48) participating in our Quick Draw event, and the results were outstanding, generating a lot of excitement for the artists as well as the public. We also had the best turnout ever for our awards ceremony and reception, with an estimated 300 people attending.”
Paintings from the event will be on view through August 19 at the Howard County Tourism Welcome Center in Ellicott City.
