ANIMAL
NOVEMBER 2025
BEST IN SHOW
SANDRA GSCHNELL
* CHARLIE *
Charcoal
“My artwork explores the emotional connections between humans and animals, focusing on moments that reveal shared intelligence and tenderness. Inspired by the TV series “Our Charlie”, this piece portrays a young chimpanzee caught in a quiet, reflective gesture. His expression suggests thoughtfulness: a glimpse of consciousness that feels both familiar and mysterious. Through Charlie, I seek to evoke empathy and curiosity, inviting viewers to pause and recognize the depth of feeling present in other beings. My practice centers on storytelling through expressive realism, using subtle gestures and emotion to blur the line between humanity and nature. This piece is a meditation on awareness and connection — a reminder that reflection, compassion and understanding exist beyond words and that sometimes the simplest gestures can hold the greatest meaning.” — SANDRA GSCHNELL
DIAMOND AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
JOHN DIEPHOUSE
**RUBY ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2024**
**CRYSTAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2023**
* STAREDOWN *
Photography
“I'm a self-taught photographer and digital collage artist and am attracted to a variety of subjects, from natural landscapes, botanicals and wildlife to images that provide either abstract expression or social commentary. I'm interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind.
Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection.” — JOHN DIEPHOUSE
DIAMOND AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
THERESA POALUCCI
* EMBERS OF THE EARTH *
Mixed media digital
“My work combines the desert lifestyle with a fascination for the future, especially the evolving technological world. I blend nature’s wonder with digital tools, “painting with pixels” to capture and enhance my vision. My digital art process begins with crafting a composition using my computer screen as a canvas. I combine photos and hand-drawn or painted elements into the piece. The result is an original artwork. I add art filters and then refine the colors to complete the composition. The final file is sent to a professional printer, who prints my art on acrylic.” — THERESA POALUCCI
EMERALD AWARD
LAURA KESSLER
* SNACK TIME *
Acrylic
“There are infinite opportunities and chances we are given if we are willing to do the work. For me art is not work, it is the fabric that is stitched into my identity — I am unapologetically an artist. I strive to constantly learn and grow, not only as an artist but as a being; I dream big. Art has transformed my life in so many ways — as it does for many creative people — we are all searching for something new and transcendent. I struggled feeling like I was a round peg being put in a square hole; leaving many dark spaces, some of which pulled me in. Now in my sobriety I have opened a window to a new world of clarity — while my style, fearlessness, personality, creativity and drive haven’t changed, everything is now in a different light. Art is seeing a thought and as an artist it's my goal to transcend that into a visual to be felt. Once I achieve a goal or milestone, I never stop as they are merely stepping stones to keep motivating me to move; myself upward and my patrons inward.” — LAURA KESSLER
RUBY AWARD
ANNITA APOSTOLIDOU PLATIS
* THE ORNAMENT OF DAWN *
Mixed media digital collage
“In my series Rugs & Reverence, animals become vessels of remembrance — living symbols drawn from the woven prayers and timeless artistry of ancient civilizations. Each digital canvas merges ornamental geometry with the quiet presence of the horse, transforming pattern into pulse.
These beings are not mere subjects; they are guardians of silence and intuition, carriers of the human spirit across centuries of sand, silk and devotion. My process combines mixed-media collage, digital illumination and painterly texture to evoke the tactile intimacy of fabric and the transcendence of myth. Through indigo light, gold threads and the rhythm of repetition, I explore how design becomes language and how beauty becomes faith. This series honors creatures as storytellers — mirrors through which ancestry, endurance and grace continue to breathe.” — ANNITA APOSTOLIDOU PLATIS
SAPPHIRE AWARD
A. DEBRA REICH SCHWALM
* SWAN MOON *
Watercolour batik on mulberry paper
“Capturing the light is everything! I love the journey for the next inspiring image and how I can interpret, embellish and re-invent it. I love nature and live in a very rural area of Arizona. When I choose an image, I first observe the drama of the light, color, shadow and reflection. I assess the image by the story or message and how it will look in the batik style. The watercolor batik on mulberry paper method is a loose painting technique using watercolor and melted wax as a resist on a tissue thin paper. It emphasizes an energetic texture and a bit of whimsy. The process involves alternating layers of watercolor and wax and there is a progression from light to dark values, each time adding wax to reserve the area after it dried. Once the layering process is complete, the wax is removed and the final art piece is revealed.”
— A. DEBRA REICH SCHWALM
CRYSTAL AWARD
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AWARD OF MERIT
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HONOURABLE MENTION
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**WINNERS VIDEO**