2023 "Paint the Desert" Plein Air Festival Winners!
Best of Show
'Prickly Pear'
Oil
Deborah Newman
1st Place
'62nd St. Approaching Jackson'
Pastel
David Wolfram
2nd Place
Williamsburg Award
'Twlight on Coachella Valley'
Oil
Paul Rosiak
3rd Place
Golden Award
'La Quinta Cove'
Gouache
Jolene Paige
4th Place
Holbein Award
'Smokin Mod'
Mixed
Kathleen Strukoff
Honorable Mention
'1000 Palms'
Watercolor
Sylvia Smith
Honorable Mention
Blick Art Materials Award
'High Atop Highway 74'
Watercolor
Bob Hannah
Honorable Mention
Blick Art Materials Award
'Jacinto Vista '
Oil
Greg Wallace
Honorable Mention
Plein Air Magazine Award
'This Must be the Place'
Cabot's Pueblo Museum
Watercolor
Joyce Trinh
Randy Higbee Award
'Araby Wash '
Oil
Alberto Garcia
Randy Higbee Award
'Afternoon Shadows at the Preserve '
Oil
Sunny Patton
Randy Higbee Award
'San Andreas Fault '
Watercolor
Karin Harris
Festival Judge, Jean (and Linda) Stern, Director Emeritus of the Irvine Museum and Diane Moore, Co-Founder of The Desert Plein Air Association
2023 Workshop Instructors
Janis Commentz is known for her color-intense palette and loose brush strokes of figures and landscapes. Janis Commentz is a painter living in the Mojave Desert where she teaches classes and workshops for the Desert Institute in Joshua Tree. She has a B.A. in art and British Literature from the University of Redlands and M.A. in Education - CSUSB.
Shuang Li paints watercolor portraying the extraordinary variety of life with her unique perspective. Shuang recreates nature’s beauty by capturing moods and moments of light and color. She is a signature member of National Watercolor Society, American Impressionists Society, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, San Diego Watercolor Society, and Watercolor West, among others.
Jessica Schiffman I’m in love with shapes, colors, and pictures that tell a story. I’ve created hundreds of paintings, illustrated many books for children, and painted murals as well. I’ve been teaching art classes and workshops since 2005. I studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute long ago. The learning never stops.
David Wolfram Graduated with Distinction from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1985 with a BA in Illustration. He was employed for 22 years as a Toy Designer, and Design Manager at Mattel Inc. Now retired, he likes to paint, when possible, ‘en plein air’. He feels that painting outdoors is an essential activity to attune the eye to the everchanging light and conditions that influence color. Currently he divides his time between working in pastels and oils.
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