Staff reports

PENDLETON — Two photographs earned two of the top three awards at the Pendleton Artists Society’s Gallery 119 December judged art show.

Artist, arts educator and graphic designer Ann Johnson judged the show.

“It’s so sad that there were only three prizes,” Johnson said. “There was such a nice overview of different media. I could have given out 25 honorable mentions.”

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The show’s top prize went to an acrylic piece, “Rhapsody in Color,” by Tamara Magers, which Johnson — an adjunct instructor who teaches art appreciation at Ivy Tech in Muncie — praised for having high artistic value.

In the piece, Johnson said “the color is well used, but there is a dominant color that makes my eyes move through it … that’s not an accident; this artist knew what (s)he was doing.”

Furthermore, it has “nice texture, nice rhythms, repeated patterns.”

Second place went to Brenda Morris Jarrett for her photograph “School’s Out Forever …,” which was shows a portion of a crumbling former school building.

Johnson said the image includes many of the qualities found in the first-place winner — pattern, texture, color, line — and “it all is composed to make this fantastic design that works. I just look at that and see … a really good photograph.”

Third place went to John Saxon for his portrait of a woman, “A Penny For Your Thoughts,” a photograph on canvas.

“This person knows his history,” Johnson said, noting that is was composed in a manner popular during the Renaissance.

Furthermore, she said Saxon’s image was very rich; “he’s dealing with the fundamentals of art.”

The Pendleton Artists Society’s January show will be a solo exhibition of art by Vicki Taylor.

Taylor has created art all her life but became serious about it in the 1980s after raising her family in rural Pendleton.

She earned a bachelor’s degree and master of fine arts degree from Ball State University.

After spending 25 retirement years in Florida with her late husband, Bob, Vicki returned to Madison County to be close to her family.

She is a member of the Pendleton Artists Society.

Her solo show, schedule to run through January, will open with a public reception from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at the gallery, 119 W. State St., Pendleton.