Artists Magazine Annual Art Competition

5 First Place Awards

$2000

Five (5) First Place Award Winners (one per category) will receive $2000 and a 1-year Artists Network Membership ($99.99 value).

5 Second Place Awards

$1000

Five (5) Second Place Award Winners (one per category) will receive $1000 and a 1-year Artists Network Membership ($99.99 value).

5 Third Place Awards

$500

Five (5) Third Place Award Winners (one per category) will receive $500 and a 1-year Artists Network Membership ($99.99 value).

Andy Evansen

Landscape & Interior

Andy Evansen began painting as a change of pace from his career as a medical illustrator almost 30 years ago, and he’s now recognized as one of the top watercolor artists in the country. He’s a sought-after workshop instructor who paints and teaches internationally.  In addition to Signature membership in the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society and Transparent Watercolor Society, he was elected as the only international member of England’s Pure Watercolour Society, in 2022. Evansen’s paintings have won numerous awards, including the Bronze and High Winds Medals from the American Watercolor Society.

Dana Hawk

Animal & Wildlife

Dana Hawk is an oil painter, specializing in animal and figurative work based in realism, leaning toward magical realism. The artist grew up in rural Missouri and attended Missouri State University, initially as an art student. She later switched her major to cell and molecular biology, and went on to earn an M.S. in physical therapy from the University of Colorado. She renewed her artistic pursuits part-time, in 2003, and eventually was able to commit herself to a full-time art career, in 2012. Hawk has since painted numerous commissions, and her other work—figurative and animal—have earned awards from The Portrait Society of America, Beautiful Bizarre magazine and the Art Renewal Center, among others.

Ron Hicks

Portrait & Figure

Denver-based artist Ron Hicks began his career as a representational artist, using a traditional approach modeled after the style of 19^th-century masters. His current body of work has evolved into a blend of disciplines that marries abstraction and realism to create figural art that stirs an emotional response. Hicks’ artistic acuity was recognized in his youth, which led to scholarships to continue his educational journey at the Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio, and the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver, Colorado. The artist has enjoyed a number of solo exhibitions during his 25-plus year career, and his work is part of collections across the U.S. and abroad.

Melissa Hefferlin

Still Life & Floral

In more than three decades as a professional artist, Melissa Hefferlin has focused about half of her creative attention on still life, inspired by her passion for the formal and narrative possibilities of the genre. A proponent of both classic and progressive interpretations of the form, she admires beautiful tableaux and masterful technique in any style. Hefferlin’s artistic training includes studies at Russia’s historic Academy of Art, in 1990–91, during the country’s Soviet period. She also studied at Otis/Parsons Art Institute, in Los Angeles, and at the University of Tennessee. The award-winning artist is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and the Association of Pastel Painters of Spain, and an Associate Member of Oil Painters of America and American Women Artists. In addition to appearing in many art publications, including Artists Magazine and Pastel Journal, Hefferlin’s artwork—alongside that of her husband and son—is featured in a new hardcover book, Parallel Journeys.

Stan Kurth

Abstract & Experimental

Artist and workshop instructor Stan Kurth has drawn and painted most of his life. An aunt, who was an artist and art instructor, became a big influence even before he started school. Kurth lives with the conviction of “fear not” and that same attitude permeates not just his life but his art. Dedication to his work has earned him numerous awards as well as Signature membership in several watercolor societies, including the National Watercolor Society (in which he enjoys Master status), the San Diego Watercolor Society and the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies (where he also holds a Master distinction). The artist currently lives in Arizona, and travels widely to teach workshops in “intuitive painting” in watermedia and mixed media.