By DARLA McCAMMON

Lakeland Art Association

WARSAW — “Seagrapes and Mangroves” was the excellent acrylic work of our friend Pat Thompson. This piece also won Thompson the Best of Show award and the recent fall competition at Lakeland Art Association. Other top winners were:  Elizabeth Wamsley, first place for her ceramic vase titled “Seafoam.” Stephanie McDairmant, second place for her acrylic titled “Delicate Journey,” and third place went to Kelly Shoemaker for her oil titled, “I must be fine cuz my heart’s still beating.” 

Honorable mention awards were given to Mike Kimble for his photo, “Canoe,” Jennifer Laffoon for her macramé titled “On the Shore”, and Heidi Bailey for her mosaic sculpture “Getting Wet.“

The judge for this event was Marcy Aldridge-Adams.  Please do not ever feel that your work is defined by winning or not winning an award in a competition such as this.  Keep on working with your art and entering competitions, you will be honored one of these days with an award of your own.  Many of my artist friends, and I, myself have entered the same painting in different shows and find it downgraded in one and awarded the highest honor in the next.  Judges try their best, but they are subjective and have preferences, so do not allow one person’s opinion to affect your continuation as an artist nor your interest in entering competitions.  Hang in there!  It will happen if you are conscientiously improving your work.

This was an exciting time last week in the art world with the re-discovery of a famous Da Vinci painting that had been commissioned by King Louis XII of France nearly 500 years ago.  It passed into obscurity and was purchased 60 years ago for about $90 American Dollars! Yes, that is not a typo!  There are only 20 known paintings still existing by Da Vinci and this one has been challenged by professionals and curators once it was discovered.  Christie’s the famous auction house also had it evaluated, and they staked their reputation on the authenticity of the work.  It is now considered to have been done by Da Vinci and, of course, is very valuable.

The auction was held last Wednesday.  The work was sold by Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian Billionaire.  Prior to this sale the highest price ever paid for a work of art was Willem de Koonings painting titled “interchange,” one of only two abstracts ever to achieve high prices.  Kooning’s painting sold for $300 million dollars.

The painting by Da Vinci, considered one of the world’s masters, is titled Salvator Mundi  which means “Savior of the World” in Italian, and is a painting of Jesus Christ. The gavel came down and it was sold for a paltry $450 million. The identity of the purchaser is a mystery. Call and let me know if it was you. I would love to see this painting in person!

Upcoming and Current Events: 

• Paul Ramain exhibit at Warsaw City Hall. Open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free Admission. Ramain is changing this exhibit frequently, so be sure to make return visits till it closes at the end of December.
• Christmas Boutique at Lakeland Art Association! Find lovely creative and innovative items including paintings, crafts and more! Located at 302 E. Winona Ave., Warsaw. Open at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

For more information on topics in this column, please contact Darla McCammon at [email protected] or (574) 527-4044. Older columns at www.darlamc.com.