Reedley Fiesta Art Show entry

Hi, Shinnfans,

It’s time for another game of ‘Shinnfans choose something really important for me.’  No, I’m not turning over naming rights for our next baby.  Instead, I’d like to solicit your opinion on an art piece I plan to enter in the Reedley Fiesta Art Show Oct 11.  I have one piece picked out, and it’s a piece I refuse to put online.  I’ll only show it in person.  But I’m allowed two submissions, and I’d like to have YOU take a look at my alternatives and vote for your favorite.  Here are the rules:

  • Leave a comment on this post with your vote

That’s the only rule.  Feel free to discuss the relative merits of the pieces and explain your choice.  I’ll take it all into account.

Cheers,

Andrew

17 thoughts on “Reedley Fiesta Art Show entry”

  1. I vote for number one. Oh, definitely number one. I L-O-V-E love it. The colors are so rich, the shadows so striking. The contrast between the warm, undulating earth and the jagged, black shadows is…arresting…captivating. And the symmetry of the layout…the mystery of the sky…the linear perspective drawing one in…the intriguing and complex almost EKG quality to the shadows (with inset heart-like imagery). Good grief. Did I mention that I love it?

  2. P.S. – The piece you refuse to put online —– does that refusal include private email? ‘Cause 3000 miles will probably prevent me from a personal showing anytime soon. 🙁

    P.P.S. – Please give your baby, your wife, and your wife’s bump a big hug for me!

  3. I say the 4th picture (the one with the h2o tower in it) simply because I know the one that you submitted last year – also a Reedley scenic b/w – got such raves and was favored by many. Local is a big deal around there. (Is the vineyard shot from Lodi?)

    p.s. I was thinking recently how you guys always called my bump Agatha before she came out and decided her name was Greta. Remember that?

  4. Andrew: I absolutely love #2 because I love Pismo – but since this is a Reedley Fiesta, probably 3 or 4 (4 preferably). # 1 reminds me of picking grapes in Reedley when I was young and the reflection of the fence, etc. is really very, very nice. The only one that I do not care for is #5 – I am sure that anything you enter will be special. All of these are outstanding – for What I know about balance etc.!!! lighting, etc. !!!.

    Now, how about some baby pictures (or should I say Big Boy pictures?)

  5. I think #4 is the best for the Fiesta. To me, it’s like God looking down on little old Reedley, it’s really good.

  6. Andrew,
    My order of preference is actually the order the photos are in. I love the first one. I love that the sky is so different from the ground. I like the contrast in the bottom portion a lot. Plus I like that I know what you did to it, since you showed me one time at the studio. I think it’s great! The second photo I like a lot, but would like better if the point of the ground meeting the water wasn’t almost centered. I do like the coloring of the photo, and as I said, this is my second favorite, so the centered-ness isn’t a deal breaker, I do like it very much (and that’s just my opinion). I like the third photo. What I think would be a cool idea, would be to borrow an idea from your first one, and make the sky blue, clouds white (aka leave it as it would have been origionally) and have the bottom portion black and white. It looks like the sky would be a deep brilliant shade of blue, and I feel like I’m missing out on that (kinda like a sunset that’s in black and white – still cool, but most of the brilliance is gone). Fourth picture: well, I’m comparing it to the one that you stitched together, and so I don’t love it as much – but it is cool just because it’s Reedley, and that’s where we live. I love the water tower, and the sky, I’d rather the buildings be houses – I think that’s what draws away from it for me. Fifth picture: I can’t decide if I like that it’s centered (although not in the middle of the whole picture) or not. I guess my eye is just more pleased when things are arranged asymmetrically – so, if you don’t mind centered things, that’s ok too. You are a very talented photographer, and I think you have other pictures that I would choose before this one. OK, so, I hope this is what you were looking for. It turned into more of an art critique, but, I think you would do the same for me, so I hope it’s alright. 🙂 Number one is my favorite.

    Rach

  7. P.S. I didn’t read any of the other comments until I posted mine, so I would just be stating my own opinion without borrowing from anyone (which by the way is brave of me, because I hate offending anyone). I love the way Krista put it for the first one. Good way to describe it! What she wrote makes me think of how farming is the heartbeat of Reedley (even though I don’t know where the photo was taken). I also like what Laura said about the Reedley one. Makes it a little more special. And, I wasn’t really thinking about it being a Reedley fiesta, so you know, hometown/local draw. But, if it’s like one you submitted last year (we’ve never been to Fiesta since that’s the day we got married, so we’re always off celebrating our anniversary, so I haven’t seen the one you submitted – my guess is the stitched together one), I’d say do something different – but that’s just me. Also, I’d love to see your other submission. OK, enough from me. Happy decision making.

  8. I love the water/mountain one. It’s mostly because I love the water and anything that depicts it. It is also incredibly beautiful. Great job, Andrew. I am so impressed!

  9. Thanks to all of you for your great comments! Very insightful and encouraging. This really helps to narrow it down. I’m going to wait for a few more, then add up the votes.
    – Andrew

  10. I love the pictures of the vines and shadows dancing in the rows in the shapes of hearts. It looks like lace on the dirt! I love it even more since I get to see it everyday in my living room. I love the golden dirt and the gray sky. However since I HAVE seen the other submission IN PERSON, I might vote for one of the Reedley pictures. I love the water tower picture and would like it more for the Reedley Fiesta if it had more of the Reedley name on it. Then that would be my vote. Can’t you go back up there and hang off the side a little farther to get more of the Reedley name? Mom

    Now, how ’bout some pix of the adorable little boy?

  11. I vote for the Reedly Water Tower/Town/Mountain/Sky view. Lots of local, geographic and artistic value. Stuff I like. I admire and enjoy your work Andrew.
    Love, Dad

  12. Okay, I saw this post just after it was published. I have re-visited it every day to see if I can finally take decisive action, but alas, I am still in the “they’re all so good I can’t decide” camp. I love the vines, but something definitively local may be more apropos. The water tower shot is striking, and number 5 is the kind of thing you’d see in a Route-66 slasher flick (and I mean that in the beset possible way). I think I’m settled on the water tower. Until I come back and look again…

    JRS

  13. My vote will be #4 – cloud formations are wonderful and you have such a great perspective when you take pictures.

  14. DEFINITELY #1, but #2 is a close second for me. I agree with everything Krista said about #1, and I did see the heart images in the shadows. It is really so striking – it looks like a painting. It draws me in and makes me want to look at it for a long time. You are truly talented Andrew.

    Oh and thanks for reading our blog. Did you guys move back to CA? What city are you in? We desperately miss CA!!! It’s such a beautiful state with its contrast of the mountains, dessert landscape, the ocean, green farms, etc…

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