Rain Barrel Art Contest

Presented by: Toyota Motor Manufacturing Company

It’s time to vote for the winners of our Rain Barrel Art Contest presented by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Company!

We had submissions from nine talented artists here in Central Kentucky. Below you will find a gallery displaying their amazing works with the titles listed below, as well as artist bio’s and interpretations of their works.

Voting closes August 1st at 5:00 PM EST.

2024 Rain Barrel Art Contest Submissions!

Art Out Loud! by Robert Penque

My work is vibrant and colorful for a reason I want others to see the beauty that’s all around us the way I do and sometimes I know that’s hard to do with our day to day lives so I use vibrant colors to really make you see.

This rain barrel is inspired by nature and all the wonder and beauty and also a series of work I’ve done called little Things, that series of work is all about the little things we take for granted everyday, without these little things we wouldn’t have the air we breathe the water we drink or the food we eat we owe our lives to nature and this planet and its time we start treating it that way.

Artist Bio:

Robert Penque, Painter and Photographer

Owner of Art Out Loud, LLC

Member of the Lexington Art League

I’m a 34 year old native of Connecticut but recently relocated from New Orleans, LA after living there for several years. I’m married to my wonderful and fully supportive husband of five years, and together we have a cat, Emie, and a dog, Bella. We have relocated for my husband’s new job as a professor at Eastern Kentucky University, and I couldn’t be happier to have come to the beautiful state of Kentucky. And I’m equally as happy to have found such a substantial and welcoming art community.

Art has always been a significant part of my life, and I have studied and practiced it for as long as I can remember. I’m innately driven to capture and help others to appreciate the beauty, chaos, and variety of life. I’m also drawn to interesting and unusual people, sights, textures and sounds, which help to inspire my work. I work best in unstructured environments where my emotions, imagination, and subsequent creativity can flow unencumbered. I predominately focus on creating textured, abstract paintings but also photograph and then manipulate the images to further bring them to life.

I know that my purpose in life is to create and share my creations with others, and I’m so thankful that that is what I’ve been able to do. I compare creating to breathing as I believe both are necessary to live. I thank you for the opportunity to share my work with you and hope that it both moves and inspires you.

 

Horse Day by Enrique Gonzalez

Sunny Daze by Chamari Davis

This art piece is inspired by the good days. The days that are filled with light, laughter and dance! The feeling of the sun on your skin, the feeling of grass in your toes, the feeling of water from the sky. Refreshing and orderly, a perfect day. Acrylic pain with a spray paint top coat to make sure this day never ends.

Artist Bio:

Chamari Davis is a local artist born and raised in Lexington, Ky. She studied studio arts at Morehead State University and although she currently works full-time as a property manager she has a passion for creativity. In her spare time, she loves to craft anything from furniture flips to abstract wall art. She’s inspired by geometric shapes and patterns seen in our everyday life.

confetti by Leah Dick 

This is an ode to all the sources of platonic love in my life and the accumulation of small acts of kindness and care from these people I hold dear. The sum is so much more beautiful than each of the parts alone.

Artist Bio:

While acrylic on canvas is consistently my chosen medium, I often repurpose ordinary household items and sometimes even trash to use as tools for layers, texture, and liveliness. My day job is in public health, which has provided me many opportunities over the years to travel the world; my favorite place to work, create, and build community, however, has been my hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. If you would like to request custom abstract works or view other pieces, visit www.leah.one

Rain Songs by Vicki Freeman

RAIN SONGS is the subject matter of my rain barrel. It is covered with 16 pictographs of songs so you can play a “name-that-tune” trivia game. The answers are on the back side. Big  hint: the barrell top is dedicated to Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain”.
Catch you on the flip side everyone.

Stained Glass Bluegrass by Amanda Crum

A depiction of a Kentucky morning, afternoon, and evening in a “stained glass” style using acrylic paint.

Artist Bio:

Amanda Crum is a writer and artist who enjoys finding new ways to depict familiar scenes. Her work has been featured in Riggwelter Magazine and Bluegrass Bold: Stories of Kentucky Women. Amanda lives in Georgetown with her husband and two children.

Big Blue by Debbie Blair

My rain barrel is a compilation of poses of the great blue heron. I enjoyed using calming blue colors to create the background, and painted the different poses of this very handsome bird that resides throughout Kentucky.

Artist Bio:

Debbie Blair – Debbie Blair Creative
 After winding down a long, meaningful career in the Thoroughbred industry, Lexington resident Debbie Blair turned her considerable energy to her other passion — art.
 As the owner of an eco-Lodge in the Peruvian Amazon, she has trekked through the Amazon Rainforest taking inspiration from the bold colors and textures around her.  She continues to draw ideas from this rich experience.
 A self-taught artist, her work reflects her experiences as a birder, equestrian, and adventurer.  She fearlessly adds color and intensity to whatever she creates.
Primarily painting with acrylics, she loves mixing her own colors, finding that she can produce richer, bolder colors in her work.  Whether creating a patchwork stallion, colorful birds, or a fiery, windswept tree, Debbie’s work is authentically her own.
She has traveled internationally for work and play but always calls the Bluegrass home.
 Debbie participates in the local Art on the Town project where she displays her work at Thursday Night live , LexArts Gallery Hop, and at the Farmers Market at Tandy Park.
 Her work has been displayed at the Loudon house, the Lexington Arts and Science Center, Base 249, and the John G. Irvin Art Gallery at Central Bank. She is also participated in numerous art festivals in Kentucky.  She currently has her work on display at the Pasta Garage, Le Deauville and Cannabuzz Bar.

Adventure into the Woods by Delaney Thomas

This rain barrel piece is inspired by Aspen trees and the longing for escapism into nature. To be one and tall with the tree is a whimsical desire that most often everyone feels when overwhelmed by day to day life.

Artist Bio:

Delaney Marie Thomas is an artist from Prescott, Arizona, who moved to Tucson in 2016. She is a 2020 graduate of the University of Arizona with a BFA in Art and Visual Culture Education with an emphasis on Museum Studies. She also has a minor in Psychology. Delaney primarily works in watercolor and acrylic. Occasionally, she does collage work. Children’s storybooks and fairy tales inspire her. Delaney is also a character performer and leads story times as various princesses and fairies. In 2022, she decided to move to Kentucky. Delaney feels more at home than ever and connected to her roots. Her great-grandparents had a farm in Ohio before moving to the Southwest in 1947 with her grandmother and 10 siblings in a converted school bus.
Having taught children and adults the joys of creating art, Delaney uses her teaching experience to share her whimsical nature in her work. She has also organized and hosted multiple showcases featuring her artwork and other artists’ work in the community to help various philanthropic causes. Delaney’s passion for art, education, and charity drives much of her work.
She is a graduate of the Nonprofit Leadership and Management program at Arizona State University.

If you love it, let it go! by Jason Sturgill

This design is a whimsical reminder to find balance within our Modern, technology driven society with the natural environment that surrounds us.  It is easy to stay caught up searching the internet for the best deals or watching videos for countless hours.  This piece is about letting go of those devices from time to time and returning to the splendor of nature.  The piece starts with a young boy who is supposed to be camping but is watching his phone.  It then moves counter-clockwise as you see the device start to transform.  Eventually, the device morphs into a bird and lands into the hands of a young girl sitting on the river bank.

Artist Bio:

Jason Sturgill was born in Wise, Virginia.  The son of a coal miner and an independent business woman, both learned early on in their son’s life about his passion for art, as he liked to scribble and doodle on every surface he could find.   He attended college at Morehead State University in eastern Kentucky.  While attending MSU, he focused on drawing, graphic design, and printmaking.  He graduated from MSU in 2002 and accepted an art teaching position in the central Kentucky area.  During this tenure, Mr. Sturgill has completed his Master’s of Art degree in Education from MSU and has recently completed a second Master’s of Art from the University of Kentucky.  He is currently teaching classes in traditional and digital medias.  In addition, Mr. Sturgill has been working as an adjunct professor at Midway College as well as teaching with the University of Kentucky’s Fine Arts Institute.  Jason has been working on branching out of education into freelance, gallery, and publication work.  He is currently a member of Kentucky Crafted and The Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen. Jason is a juried exhibitor at St. James Art Fair, Tennessee Arts and Crafts, Summer Fair in Cincinnati, OH, and the Kentucky Market at Woodland. He resides in Lexington, KY with his wife and fellow educator, Alyssa.