ARThouse

     Maryland native Brenda Kidera received her Fine Art degree from Towson University. In 1983 she began a graphic design career with the creation of Kidera Design Associates. Since then, she has combined her graphic and fine art skills to produce advertising, design and illustration work for a multitude of clients in various walks of life. She is now a full time painter and fine art instructor, teaching classes at her studio and through Howard County Recreation & Parks, and teaching workshops for various arts organizations.

     Kidera is a classical realist painter, moving freely between oil, watercolor and acrylic in a variety of subject matter: landscape, still life, floral, portrait and wildlife. Passion for realism and attention to detail enable her to convey the personality and character of the subjects she paints.

     Kidera is a signature artist member of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters , Baltimore Watercolor Society, Potomac Valley Watercolorists , and she is a member of the Society of Animal Artists , Oil Painters of America, Mid-Atlantic Plein-Air Painters Association and National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society.  She has served as a juror of regional shows. Her work has been exhibited extensively, winning many awards. Kidera was featured in Watercolor Magic magazine.

   Visit Brenda’s website at http://www.kiderafineart.com/brenda

Comments by awards juror Brenda Kidera

1^st Place:  Barbara Scheihing for “Roots”.  This still life has a great composition, exhibits confident handling of the paint, has a nice variation of color and value within shapes, and a lovely background with wonderful subtle texture.  Well done!

2^nd Place:  Mimi Hegler for “Kitchen Staples”.  I was immediately struck by the strong graphic shapes.  I love the edge quality.  The color palette is beautiful, with repetition of colors throughout the painting.  Nice confident handling of the paint; great use of the white paper in the highlights; uses the full value scale which makes the scene dynamic.

3^rd Place:  Cecile Kirkpatrick for “Beets, Carrots, and Asparagus”.   Lovely, delicate handling of paint, values and shapes, especially in the asparagus; nice full range of values; interesting composition.  [photo is inaccurate—painting now has dark background—sm]

Then, in no particular order:

Honorable Mention:  Janet M. Epstein for “Rooted Matter”.  Wonderful abstracted interpretation of roots!  Great handling of color and shape; nice range of values.

Honorable Mention:  Renée Moneyhun for “Abstract with Two Suns”.  Nice composition with interesting and successful color choices; good value range and use of whites and black.  I especially like the variation of texture, color and value in the “green” area—would like to see a bit more of this pushed in a few other areas.

Honorable Mention:  Sally Drew for “Rocks and Roots”.  Nice handling of the paint, especially in the shadow areas.  You’ve been successful in keeping these dark areas interesting, lively, and most of all, not muddy.  A subtle lifted swash of light across the glass on the side would be nice.  Lovely handling of paint -- letting the colors float together without forcing it with the brush.

Honorable Mention:  Linda Daniels for “Lirio de Agua”.  I love this quiet, subtle painting with the shapes emerging and receding.  Lovely colors and use of the rice paper.

Honorable Mention:  Jean Perretta for “Hiawatha”.  Very nice handling of the colors, working in conjunction with the poured background.  I especially like the use of turquoise darks in the few chosen spots.  The pencil lines have a nice varied quality, light into dark, coming and going, which work well.

Honorable Mention:  Tanya Rostovtseva for “St. Sebastian”.  Excellent lifting and modeling of the figure.  Love the color palette and positioning of the figure in the composition.

Thanks for inviting me to jury this excellent show!

Brenda Kidera,  at ARThouse,  May 10, 2012