Trees & Fields

Our first Art competition “Tries & Fileds” started in September 2020 and concluded on October 29, 2020. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: USA, Germany, Canada, Italy, France, Australia, Turkey, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, China, Russia, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Sweden, China, Ukraine, Philipines, Cyprus, Austria and Denmark. The Trees & Fields theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, photography, digital, watercolor, pastel, pen and ink, crayon, gouache, graphite, wood carving). The following evaluation criteria has been used for judging the artwork: creativity, interpretation of the theme, originality and quality of art, overall design, demonstration of artistic ability, and usage of medium. Jury decided to select 118 artworks for inclusion in the exhibition. Aside from First, Second, and Third place Jury also presented Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards.

Thank you, and enjoy the exhibition!

Statement:

Mr. Diephouse is a primarily self-taught photographer who migrated to digital photography about fifteen years ago. After retiring from a professional management career, Mr. Diephouse has taken advantage of his time in retirement to explore the technical and creative sides of this media. At this point in his development, John seeks to share images with which he has a strong and instinctive personal connection. Images may be simply documentary, invoke a sense of time and place, or resonate as an abstract blend of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection. His creative process follows an intuitive yet patterned path, from capturing a digital image through the process of interacting with and refining the image, searching for the combination of elements that produces an instinctive but undeniable connection. Most often the images that provoke the strongest connection are those that do not produce an immediate reaction but provoke a response through repeated contact and consideration over time. Mr. Diephouse has exhibited widely in local and regional exhibitions and have been published in Nature Photographer and Black & White Magazine. His photographs have won commendations for merit ranging from Honorable Mention to Best in Show. John’s photographs were also selected to hang in the Michigan Governor’s Mansion as part of a year-long exhibition highlighting State of Michigan artists.

Second place

Statement:

The camera is my medium to capture the fleeting beauty I see and feel in nature, the unguarded expressions and hidden gestures of life and in the optical illusions that appear in reflections and the layering of images. Engaging with my camera takes me out of ordinary reality and into the world of possibility where I thrive. When something captures my imagination, I want to share it with others by making a photograph. Being an artist is to live in the world of possibility, less of certainty. I could capture a moment, something sacred or commonplace, an unconscious gesture, a tattered clothesline, a red plastic pitcher, or a worn prayer book. I like to leave the familiar, travel to far-away places, and find the gift of really being present.

Statement:

"The world is beautiful in every ordinary moment. We just need to learn how to see it”.

Creation has permeated my entire life, and broad experiences as a designer, architect, ac-tress and singer inspire and enrich my art. For only seven years after my comeback to paint-ing, my artworks have taken part in more than 20 exhibitions throughout Ukraine and Europe and won prizes on several art competitions in 2019-2020. In addition, a plenty of my pieces have replenished private collections of Ukraine, Europe and the USA. I was born in Minsk, Belarus. I attended a school with an artistic orientation there for 8 years; it was both the first professional experience of getting in touch with art and the beginning of my career. In 1991, my family moved to Kharkiv, Ukraine. There I studied at the Higher Professional School No. 20, and in 1995 I had graduated as a junior specialist in the restoration of decorative finishes and stucco molding. After a while, I entered a National University of Building and Architecture. From 1999 to 2000, I was an intern at Design-Centre, and in 2001 already got graduated as a designer of the architectural environment. Since 2000 I was working in a design-studio Bondarenko Group, and in 2002 I became a partner of this studio for the next eleven years. During this time, many public and residential interiors were realized with some of them being awarded at Ukrainian competitions. In 2013 I got back to drawing. By 2016 I already was a participant of several per-sonal & group exhibitions and a member of European Artists Association ARTE. Meanwhile, since 2013 I work as an independent interior designer, and since 2017 I am a member of Ukrainian Designers Association.