DAPHNE, Ala.—The Bay Rivers Art Guild 11th Annual Juried Art Show showcased oil, acrylic and mixed-media paintings along with photographs Saturday for a crowd of about 50—and the art work outnumbered the people two to one, according to Marion McAleer, BRAG president.

She said that 200 pieces entered the show with 100 juried out.

The remaining pieces were hard to judge, according to Ann Cockerill—Best of Show winning artist in Chateau Elan-Spirit d’France and 30-year owner of The Red Cockerill Gallery in Atlanta—who had to do just that.

Though it was a hard decision, Cockerill chose the following winning pieces:

—John Ball’s “And So It Was….”

—Diane Brim’s “The Written Word.”

—Terry Lindquist’s “Daisy.”

—Marie Nickerson’s “Dancing With Joy VI.”

—Michael Smith’s “La Vanera Del Infierno.”

Honorable Mentions:

—Fleetwood Covington’s “Ishmon Bracy.”

—Kyong Suk Galey’s “Madison”

—Ellen Grigg’s “Two Friends”

—Fran Neumann’s “Sunfish”

—Barbara Thomas’ “Black, White & Red Nude 1.”

Cockerill judged on “skill, craftsmanship and originality (that) made these works stand out,” she said. “I look for a fresh creative approach to make a statement; there are several paintings in the show that break all the ‘rules’ but do it so successfully ….

“Craftsmanship equals taking the time to get it right, whether it is through waiting till the sun is just right to cast the interesting shadows or painting with skillful bravuro one stroke of the brush that says it all.”

Cockerill added that location seemed to encourage a high caliber of art work.

“I could see that many artists were inspired by the sea and the beautiful surroundings…; they used photography, impressionism and realism to describe the local color,” she said.

Other pieces showed creativity in compositions beyond canvas, she said.

“Sometimes, as in this show, the artist uses an unusual substrate and technique; an artist took an old piece of tin beautifully rusted to create a work of art.”

But successful painting and photography goes beyond technique, according to Cockerill.

“Thinking outside the box and looking with a third eye that goes beyond photographic realism or beautiful compositions (are key); there are many talented artists who can copy a scene but only a few can use the language of the heart to express visually their feelings about the subject,” she said.