Fallbrook artists take five awards at San Diego County Fair

The work of eight Fallbrook artists went on display at the 2005 San Diego County Fair Exhibition of Art on June 10. No small feat considering 1,200 entries were received by the art exhibition judges. Five of the talented Fallbrook residents received awards. Jack Ragland scored three: third place in Oil-Non-representational for his painting “Coalescence” and first place in Acrylic-Representational, People & Animals, for “Charging Through,” which also earned a 2005 Donated Award offered by Lady Bug. Jim Bates received two awards in the Watercolor-Representational, People & Animals category. His painting “Bicyclists on a Bridge” won an honorable mention and “Tango & Ginger” received a 2005 Donated Award offered by the San Diego Museum of Art, Artists Guild. Kelly Barrett Berning was awarded second place in the Ceramics category for “Three Bunnies;” Betty Herrington’s entry in the Recycled Art, 80% Recycled Materials category received a second place for her piece “A Salute to Jazz;” and Alene Ahrend received an honorable mention for “Child” in the Watercolor-Representational, People & Animals category.

At a Judges Dialogue Thursday, June 16, the artists learned the judges don’t look at the artists’ names but focus instead on characteristics of the media and design principles. Each category was judged by at least one person; some categories had two judges. A competition of this size could have been overwhelming, said one judge. From the initial 1,200 entries, 586 made the cut. Marine Corps volunteers helped the judges by moving pieces around for consideration during the process. Entries in this year’s exhibition were some of the best they’d ever seen, a judge commented. Because of this, very few honorable mention ribbons were awarded, thus rendering it greater stature.