Today we are back with the final installment in the 2018 Fruit and Veggie Art Challenge Series:  A special “Artist Feature” spotlighting the other two artists who participated in the challenge.  I am so thrilled to have had two others complete this challenge with me.  It was so interesting to see their picks for each letter (sometimes we were the same, others we were different). Their interpretations of the subjects themselves as well as the presentations were outstanding.  Two very talented gals here!

First up is Jill.  You can follow her at jillbyersdesign

Jill is a fellow designer on Spoonflower which was how we “met”.  Last year she started the Animal Art Challenge, but did not make it through to the end.  I am so delighted that this year she did!  Jill painted of all her subjects with oil on square canvases with a unique cropped view.  They make quite a stunning collection:

She painted these all from real life, which meant she was sometimes out of order due to availability.  This is the reason U hasn’t made it to the grid yet.  She posted a photo of ugli fruit which she now has. So it is coming soon!  Be sure to follow her to see it when it is finished.

I asked Jill to share a few thoughts about the challenge. Here is what she said:

I set a few rules for myself when I started this project. I wanted to have the actual fruit or vegetable in hand, I wanted all of the compositions to be square and cropped and I wanted them to be 8″x8″ oil on canvas. My self imposed rules were pretty easy to stick to. I really enjoyed creating the compositions and working with oils. Having the actual fruit/vegetable in hand proved to be a challenge though. Dragon Fruit, Kohlrabi, Quince and Ugli Fruit where not in season when it was time to paint those letters so I had to occasionally skip a letter and then go back to it.

I love so many of them but some of my favorites are the Avocados, Beets, Eggplant, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onion, Papaya, Quince, Radish, Xigua (Watermelon). I had so much fun painting the carrots that I painted two versions. I thought that I would maybe do that again with another letter but time never allowed for that.

There are only two that I would have done differently. I would like to redo the Nectarine composition and I wish that I had sliced the Watermelon Radish thinner so that the slices would have been more transparent.

It was a great year long project. When I look at them collectively, I can see how my painting style changed throughout the year. I feel like every time I pick up a paintbrush I learn something new and this project taught me a lot.

Here is a closer look at some of the favorites Jill mentioned above:

Jill has decided to take a break from the Alphabet Challenge this year.  While I understand (completing all 26 letters was definitely a great endeavor) she will be missed!

Next up is Anastasia.  You can follow her at:  al_donzza

Anastasia was new to the alphabet art challenge this year and I so delighted that she joined in!  She also used paints: watercolors.  Her loose, sketchy style is so stunning.  Sometimes they included text sometimes not.  Here is a look of a few of her favorite paintings.  It is a nice example of the variety of her presentations:

Anastasia was also kind enough to send me some thoughts.  English is not her first language so the following is not a direct quote (I did some editing per her request).  As a side note… I absolutely LOVE that she is from a totally different part of the world!!!  Super awesome how the online world can bring together artists from all over!  Language barriers don’t matter much in the visual world anyways!  Here is the essence of her thoughts:

It was a great pleasure to participate in this challenge.

Honestly, I’m not a REAL artist, as other participants, and it was a great lesson to me as I discovered that I have my own style. (However my works were very different: different materials and techniques).

I saw that other participants did have a distinct style, something that I did not think I had.   However, by the end I realized that I do have my own style!  That was exciting to realize.

And I saw a huge progress between my “A” and “Z”. A one year long exercise like this, is a time frame to see things like progress and style.

Such great observations, although I would have to disagree with her sentiment that she is not a REAL artist!  Perhaps she is not pursuing art professionally, but she is ABSOLUTELY a real artist, and a very good one too!

She sent me this look at a few of the paintings she framed:

Anastasia IS participating in this year’s challenge:  The Alphabet City Art Challenge.  She has already posted for the first two letters and they are amazing!  You can follow the challenge hashtag to see everything that we (and hopefully others!) will be posting. It is not too late to join in!  You can even skip letter A if you don’t want to play catch up.

Well folks.  THAT is a wrap.  If you missed any of the Recaps for the 2018 Fruit and Veggie Art Challenge links to them all can be found at the end of this POST.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the artwork in this series both of myself and others and that you continue to follow along in 2019 as we explore the CITY theme!

And one last THANK YOU to Jill and Anastasia for joining in last year and for sharing their incredible work!

Brenda