Breezy Point artist wins a national art award
BREEZY POINT -- Area painter Leslie Gerstman has won a national art award for her watercolor "Tulips & Pears," according to a California-based art society.
Watercolor West, which bills itself as "a transparent watercolor society," named Gerstman's piece the Rex Brandt Memorial Award winner at its recent national juried show in Brea, Calif. The prize carried a $500 cash award.
The Watercolor West Show "presents a spectrum of style and technique demonstrating the diversity of purely transparent watercolor painting," the society said in a recent news release.
"This event is one of the most select of its kind, and the quality of the work provides incredible excitement for the viewer and artists alike," the release said.
Juried by noted artist and teacher Christopher Schink, the show attracted entries from around the world, the release said, with artists competing for $10,000 in prize money.
Gerstman, Breezy Point, has won numerous national and area awards for her "vibrant watercolors," the release said.
This fall she received a first honors at the Minnesota Watercolor Society's juried exhibition and an honorable mention at the Minnesota State Fair, the release said.
Gerstman's work appears in "The Best of Flower Painting," a coffee table edition published by North Light Books of Cincinnati in 1997.
Another piece graces the cover of the December issue of "The Northern Gardener" magazine published by the Minnesota Horticultural Society of Falcon Heights, the release said.
Gerstman's paintings can be seen at Eagle's Landing Gallery in Pequot Lakes. She also plans a show at Caf Latt on Grand Avenue in St. Paul from January-April 2001, the release said.