Logan County Fair

Youth get creative in visual art projects

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[August 02, 2018]  The Visual Arts section at the Logan County Fair provides the opportunity for both children and adults from around Logan County to demonstrate their talents.

On Monday morning, 4-H Non-original Visual Arts and 4-H Visual Arts judging took place with hundreds of outstanding entries to choose from.

Participants may use media such as paper, clay, fiber, wood, chalk/carbon/pigment, glass/plastic, metal, and nature to produce their art.

Non-Original arts are made from either kits, pre-printed designs, or pre-molded pieces. Original arts are designs created completely by the exhibitor.

The art is judged for its craftsmanship, originality, and creativity, though these areas are only a small portion of the total score. 4-H members must also have a general knowledge of various art concepts and be able to share a detailed explanation of their project with the judges.

Judges say they consider how well 4-H members explain their project goals, their decisions, and their results as well as providing a self-evaluation of what they could have done differently. Additionally, the 4-Hers must describe skills they learned and any techniques and design elements they used in their project.

Both during and after judging, the judges make comments indicating where participants did well and telling them how and where they could improve. The “minute” details can be significant.

For instance, the prize-winning floriculture entries were very colorful arrangements and the best of show entry was a beach scene with plants that looked like little palm trees. Judge Jason Steffens has said the presentation of the entries is an important part.

Several 4-H members did projects using various media and entered both visual and non-visual projects, while others focused on one project. Most have been working on their projects for the past few months.

Emily Eeten did a photography project and took a photo of a sunflower because it was so tall and colorful. She used her zoom lens to get a good close-up photo of the flower.

Ethan Simonton drew and painted a picture of Jackie Robinson in his Dodger uniform because that is his favorite player. He used a drawing of Robinson to get the inspiration.

Megan Siddens did a woodworking project by making a cutting board. She said it took a lot of hard work with gluing, sanding, edging, and running it through a planer, then oiling it. Sidden’s other project was an acrylic painting of a cherry blossom tree.

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Meya Harmon did three projects using different media. The first project was a colorful sand and water scene with turtles made of shells from the beach. Her second project was a painting of the galaxy using blue, purple, and pink. The third project was a crayon drawing of several flowers in a variety of colors. Each project popped with color.

Ivy Sandel also used various media for her four projects. Sandel said her three-dimensional multi-media picture was of flowers made from wood and metal. She said her other projects were an acrylic painting of a birch tree, a clay flowerpot, and a sculpture made of tree branches that held “owls” made from rocks.

William Simonton entered two original and two non-original projects. His woodworking project was a “W” with a bear inside, which is the Cub’s baseball symbol for a win. The other woodworking project was an owl with an “S” at the bottom for Simonton. His mom bought the owl for her classroom and he wood-burned, stained, and painted it. His non-original drawing was a baseball bat and ball copied from looking at another picture. An original drawing was a catcher on a baseball field. Simonton said the general theme of his art projects was sports, which is something he loves.

Cavit Schempp entered five projects using various media and he works on projects throughout much of the year. Schempp said his two favorite projects were wooden coasters with a theme of chemical elements and a metal project of a farmer waving while driving his 4020 John Deere tractor. Schempp used chalk and carbon pigment for his drawing of cartoon character Elmer Fudd. His Heritage Arts project was a knitted dishcloth. The project is considered a Heritage Art because he learned the skill from another person with his grandma Schempp teaching him to knit. His fiber project was a knitted baby cap for his newborn cousin.

As usual, the visual and non-visual arts section showcased the talents of many children from around Logan County. Winning entries will be displayed in the Expo building throughout the week of the fair.


[Angela Reiners]

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