25th Annual Famous Artists of the 21st Century Show

Hot Dog Stand in the Theatre District
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

Last year at the 24th annual Famous Artists of the 21st Century Show, I won Best in Show with this painting of the "Hot Dog Stand in the Theatre District." I was thrilled because not only did I win a cash prize, but I also had my painting put on the invitation to this year's show.

The 25th Annual Show was last weekend.
This year I won The Art League Award which was one of the top prizes. Again, I felt quite honored to received this recognition. My prize winning painting was "Shady Lady." It's a painting of a woman with a straw hat.  The light goes through the holes of her hat and makes light patterns and shadow patterns on her face. It was a painting that took a VERY long time to paint. So it was nice to have an award granted to me for this work. This painting almost landed in the trash can. I put a green shadow on the neck and it looked very muddy. I tried to get the green out, but I just couldn't get it to look right. So the painting sat in a drawer for a year. Then one day, I was telling a friend about how I ruined a painting that I had worked on for so long. She wanted to see it. When I showed it to her, she said, "Why don't you add a scarf?" What a great idea!  I added a boa, and to be honest, I like it better than the original plan that was just a bare neck.  So sometimes bad mistakes can turn into a prize winning painting. I guess the moral of the story is to never give up, and when you are really in trouble, ask a friend for advice!

Shady Lady
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce