Enid Williams juried the Appalachian Art Show this year. Her statement about her own work is interesting: “I rely on a complex ordering of form and color to create elaborate visual scenarios that appear to be in continual flux. There is little evidence of pictorial hierarchy, instead the optical effects create an ambiguous space, both undermining and heightening our desire for logic and order. Although historical and cultural influences inform my work, charts that test for colorblindness served as my initial inspiration. I find a certain irony in this source, as the charts are quite beautiful in their own right, and the viewer is persuaded into a longer examination in order to”read” their content.

Fortunately for me, Enid spent time with one of my entries in this year’s regional show, and gave me an award. She had this to say at the end of her juror’s statement:
“Finally, Mary Nees’ ‘Achor,’ creates intrigue and mystery through a complex networking of marks and densely layered inner structures. There is something very satisfying in works that are carefully titled, (and) can be interpreted in more than one way. Place is no longer literal in Nees’ modestly scaled panel, and this is part of it’s strength.”

Here, both my entires are being viewed by another artist friend, doing what he does well: spending good time.