ggerson

In late November, the Colorado Council on the Arts and Colorado Friends of Culture commissioned me to do three paintings to present to the winners of the Governor’s Art Award. I was to do one for Telluride, Colorado, one for Creede, Colorado and one to hang in the Governor’s office in Denver. This was great and scary news for me. However, there was one catch: I couldn’t tell anyone.
The Council wanted to keep the winners a secret until February 26th, 2010 which happens to be Art Advocacy Day when they would be presented to the mayors of the winning towns.
I enjoyed doing these pieces using promotional materials for Telluride, Creede and Colorado in general as my base collage and embellishing with paint and painted papers. For Telluride, because we are frequent visitors, I was able to use my own photos which is my favorite collage method.
The ceremony was great fun although pulling black drapes off my paintings as they were presented was anxiety-producing in the extreme. My nerves were quelled by the many nice people I met there and the positive comments.
I have included photos taken by my husband, George, of the ceremony.