4th Annual Animal Portraiture Open, International Juried Art Exhibition
- wildheartgallery
- Jan 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 6
Congratulations to all the artists of 4th Annual Animal Portraiture Open!
This exhibition celebrates all things animal portraiture. We are excited to present you with a diverse array of portraiture styles and animal species.
It is the goal of Wild Heart Gallery to support and promote animal and wildlife artwork in a wide range of genres and styles. Artwork for this exhibition was selected by jury based on theme, originality, skill, and quality of work. Jurors were Sarah Soward and Sharon Eisley.
Awards: Best of Show, Overall Runner Up, Blick Art Materials Award, Artivism Award, Overall Honorable Mentions, and Finalists. There is also an art section of Selected Works.
Click on an image below to enlarge it.
This exhibition is sponsored in part by Blick Art Materials.
BEST OF SHOW
Fast Food, by Donna Goeddaeus 11 x 14 inches, Acrylic
From the artist, "I love fishing. Especially when they explode out of the water unexpectedly! Instead of painting him lunging for my lure, I wanted to show the drama of the walleye going after a "real" meal in his everyday life in my river."
Texture and motion come together to create this shockingly expressive fish portrait. The lunging and curving motion of the bass and leap of the frog are complemented by the horizontal ripples and green plants in the top of the painting. The brushstrokes have an immediacy to them that helps portray the urgency and speed of the fish. It's wild eyes give a sense of its wildness. It's gaping maw shows the extent of its hunger. This isn't some random fish in a river; it's a personality exploding forth to claim its dinner.
BLICK ART MATERIALS AWARD
Prickly Pad, by Mary Leslie
36 x 48 inches, Oil
From the artist, "Prickly Pad."
The delicate treatment of light/shadow lends a certain amount of gentleness to this desert hare portrait. The hare's seat on cactus thorns shows us this is a tough creature. The curving collections of cactus blooms reinforce the idea of a softer side to this rabbit. This is a complex creature surviving in a difficult, yet beautiful, environment.
OVERALL RUNNER UP
Canada Lynx in Repose on a Moonlit Winter Night, by Harvey Bodach 15 x 20 inches, Original Acrylic Painting on Masonite Board
From the artist, "The Canada Lynx hunts around twilight hours and at night, when snowshoe hares of the boreal forest are most active. They travel on specific trails or wait in ambush beds for prey. They are not always successful when hunting and need rest after vigorous exertion, like this winter Lynx during a moonlit night. Painting the winter coat of a Lynx with its interesting streaming textures and deep pockets found within the fur is a delight for an artist to explore."
Sometimes the attitude expressed through body language in a painting is all it takes to tell a compelling story. This painting goes beyond posture, head position, and eye detail. Even the treatment of the bobcat's fur gives the viewer more information. The fur is wily yet controlled. It has areas bright shimmer and deep shadow. These aspects echo the suddenness of ambush versus rest, and intelligence of a feline hunter.
ARTIVISM AWARD
Mane Colours, by Bobbe Jones 30 x 30 inches, Oil on Linen Canvas
From the artist, "My inspiration for 'Mane Colours" came from a book titled, "Shaving the Beasts: Wild Horses and Ritual in Spain by John Hartigan Jr.", a first-person study of a notorious equine ritual affecting thousands of horses in the mountainous terrain of Galicia, Spain. They have inhabited these slopes for millennia and are one of the largest free-ranging populations in the world. Every summer in more than a dozen rural localities, many of these horses are rounded up in a ritual called rapa das bestas, or “shaving the beasts.” That is the heart of the rapa: wild horses, roaming communal lands in the mountains, are herded together and driven into curros—structures similar to rodeo corrals—where their manes and tails are systematically shaved. Their hair, which in the past had many folk uses, falls worthlessly to the ground. This seems a rather chaotic event but assists with anti-parasite treatment for the horses. "
The chaos the artist mentioned is portrayed well here. The horses aren't placed randomly as there's a sort of order to the cluster. The one horse turned the opposite direction keeps the painting interesting. The white horse in the undulating sea of brown colors provides a focal point of drama.
OVERALL HONORABLE MENTIONS
Congratulations to our Overall Honorable Mention winners, Danielle Robertson, Megan O'Connor, A.R. Sullivan, Joyce Danko, Bobbe Jones, Cher Pruys, Amy Chu, Kate Gandolfo, Holly Kavonic, Heather Cudworth, and Michael Potts.
FINALISTS
Congratulations to our award Finalists, Jessica Roberts, Natasha Baker, Claire Hickman, Crystal Clarke, Natasha Lazareva, Gloria Ellis, Annie Woody, Natalie Toplass, Joe Weatherly, Margot King, Andrew Barker, Andrew Barker, Harvey Bodach, Ashley Cook, and Mary Leslie.
SELECTED WORKS
This section is for works that are selected for the virtual exhibition here on wildheartgallery.com but are not awarded.
Congratulations to our Selected Works artists, Allison Choate, David Mason, Natalie Kraepel, Michele Noiset, Natalie Toplass, Amy Chu, James Zimmer, Robbie Cheadle, Julia Marrack, Kimberly Tadlock-Peluso, Philip Walker, and Peggy Albers.
SEE MORE ENTRIES
The entries that made it to the final round of judging are also available to view on our art submission partner site: ArtCall.org
These additional images will be available to view through approximately December 2026. After that date, ArtCall automatically archives the pages.
Award Distribution for 4th Annual Animal Portraiture Open
Best of Show ($350 cash award)
Overall Runner Up ($150 cash award) Blick Art Materials Award ($200 gift coupon for dickblick.com) SPECIAL AWARD for this art call only
Artivism Award ($50)
Overall Honorable Mentions
Finalists
Best in Show receives $350 cash award and promotion on the following: Art Week, Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media and other online media channels, WHG's eNewsletter, and WHG's home page (for duration of the exhibition).
Overall Runner Up receives $150 cash award and promotion on Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media/other online media channels and WHG's eNewsletter and inclusion in a virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month.
Blick Art Materials Award receives a $200 gift coupon for dickblick.com and promotion on Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media/other online media channels and WHG's eNewsletter and inclusion in a virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month.
Artivism Award receives $50 cash award and promotion on Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media/other online media channels and WHG's eNewsletter and inclusion in a virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month.
Finalists receive promotion on Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media/other online media channels and WHG's eNewsletter and inclusion in a virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month. All award recipients also receive an award certificate, emailed as a PDF to the email address used for the submission process.
Selected Works are not awarded entries, but they are included in virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month. There is no set number of Selected Works.
This art exhibition was juried by Sarah Soward and Sharon Eisley