2014 Festival Art Contest First Place Winner - Artwork to be used in the 2016 Festival

We had so many entries, it was difficult to choose, so we had to bring in more opinions from Committee to go over the 10 finalists. We debated our design parameters that remain important for future artists to consider when designing for this competition. 1) Ability to read everything even if printed on small and large products (mugs, printed palm card, advertising, shirts). 2) Original and unique concept not reminiscent of other festival artwork in the world 3) Unisex appeal (tricky since most of our attendees are women) 4) Simple color scheme to accommodate color discharge screen printing process. Art is art none-the-less, and we appreciate all of your efforts and spirit of playing the game. You can't win unless you try.  Finalists are encouraged to keep their designs on file and modify them if you'd like to resubmit them again for the 2016 contest.

The winner of the award is Clare Margaret of Harrisburg, PA.

Disciplines:  Painter.  Silkscreen Printer.  Textile Design.  Hand Cut Paper.

Studied at:  Art Students League, NY & Brixton College, London. Fine art.

"I spent 12 years as a design, construction & display artist for several NYC based companies and over 20 years as the designer & hands on silkscreen printer for Artworks clothing, where I hand cut all my images for print on textile & paper.

My life in art started with traditional figurative drawing & portrait painting at the Art Students League, NY and textile design at Brixton College, London.

I work on anything that involves paper. My tools are paper, paint, glue, x-acto knife, & loads of blades.

My original images are drawn & cut by hand from one to many sheets of paper in a primitive method without the use of modern technology. Each work is one of a kind. My inspiration is the visual simplicity of nature.  It is, when all is said & done, a wonderful world."