Awards were handed out late Saturday night to participants of the Plein Air Competition at the Helper Arts and Music Festival.
Competition judge Douglas Fryer explained his simple judging criteria.
“How much do I enjoy looking at this piece?” Fryer said.
Prizes were awarded for three categories: amateur, salon and Plein Air.
Carol Johansen’s “Painted Rock” earned top billing in the Plein Air division. Charles Snow took home first prize in the salon division for “Victoria”, and Kathryn Martinez’s “Gazing” won the amateur division.
Ted Warr took home the inaugural Artist Excellence award for his painting “Ice-O-Mat”.
Fryer encouraged all the artists to keep painting and expressing themselves.