Athens, Ga. – Caitlin Landress from Fairmount is the 2014 winner of an annual art competition sponsored by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a unit of the University of Georgia Office of Public Service and Outreach.
A first-year student at Kennesaw State University, Landress is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her winning painting, “The Beauty of Fall,” is acrylic on canvas and it depicts a forest of trees with red and orange leaves reflecting in a pool of water. As the first-place winner, Landress will receive $1,000.
Three other winners were selected as well.
• Anna Sherlock, a senior at Grayson High School in Grayson, took second place for her submission, “Apis mellifera.” Done in watercolor paint, pen and colored pencil, the work shows a bee on a beehive. As the second-place winner, Sherlock will receive $500.
• Linda Teachey, an undergraduate student in art at Kennesaw State University, and Claire Chang, a junior at Lakeside High School in Atlanta, tied for third place. Teachey’s painting, “Turning Over a New Leaf,” in acrylic on canvas, depicts a small green frog on a green leaf, with delicate brown veins. Chang’s photo, “Sarracenia ‘Juthatip Soper,'” is a colored pencil drawing of pitcher plants. As third-place winners, both Teachey and Chang will receive $250.
The botanical garden will use the winning images on items sold in the State Botanical Garden gift shop.
Funded by the J.A. and H.G. Woodruff Jr. Charitable Trust, donor Tom Woodruff established the contest in 2005 to honor his parents. Georgia students in ninth grade through college are eligible to enter. The garden received 146 entries this year from across the state.
“We were thrilled to receive so many entries this year, though it made the judging more difficult,” said Wilf Nicholls, director of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. “This contest is a wonderful way to recognize talented students throughout the state.”
In addition to the winners, contest judges, who included botanical garden staff and other UGA employees, selected a number of submissions to receive certificates of merit.
They are:
• Tori Albright, a student at Brentwood High School in Sandersville, who entered an acrylic painting called “Morning Tulips.”
• Emily Bowen, a UGA student who entered a photograph called “Tulips.”
• O.C. Carlisle, a UGA student who entered one piece from a series called “Metamorphosis Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus Life Cycle.”
• Sarah Cottone, a student at St. Francis High School in Roswell, who entered a photograph called “Mother Nature.”
• Rachel Cottrell, a student at Lakeview Academy High School in Flowery Branch, who entered a digital print called “Fauna.”
• Taja Cummings, a student at St. Francis High School in East Point, who entered an ink on linoleum print called “Tropics.”
• Emily Dove, a student at Union Grove High School in McDonough, who entered a watercolor painting called “Blue Simplicity.”
• Katie Gwaltney, a student at Union Grove High School in McDonough, who entered an acrylic painting called “Chrysanthemums.”
• Neil Hancock, a student at Union Grove High School in McDonough, who entered a Prismacolor pencil drawing called “Orchids.”
• Samantha Hentz, a student at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Marietta, who entered a watercolor called “Georgia Royalty.”
• Ashlyn Jones, a student at Union Grove High School in McDonough, who entered a colored pencil drawing called “Sunflowers.”
• Sadie Launder, a student at Union Grove High School in McDonough, who entered a Prismacolor pencil drawing called “Purple Paradise.”
• Rachel Mathis, a student at Berrien County High School in Nashville, who entered an acrylic painting called “Sunset at Bloom.”
• Matthew Miller, a student at Newnan High School in Sharpsburg, who entered a water mixable oil color painting called “For Dallas.”
• Ty’yonya Milner, a student at Locust Grove High School in Locust Grove, who entered a pencil drawing called “Une belle lumiere.”
• Anaith Sanchez, a student at Locust Grove High School in Locust Grove, who entered a colored pencil/white charcoal drawing called “The Cotton.”
• Katherine Sewell, a UGA student who entered a pen on cardstock drawing called “Grasses of the Garden.”
• Sara Sturges, a student at Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, who entered a digital photo called, “The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, GA.”
• Victoria Sturges, a student at Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, who entered a digital photo called “State Botanical Garden.”
• Linda Teachey, a student at Kennesaw State University, who entered an ink on paper drawing called “Botanical Symmetry.”
• E.D. Thompson, a student at Grayson High School in Grayson, who entered a watercolor and Sharpie work called “Butterfly in the Wisteria.”
Learn more about the State Botanical Garden at http://botgarden.uga.edu.