2019 Illustrator’s Cup

SFR's community contests comprise some of our favorite times of the year. They not only help support our wider journalism mission, but they're great ways to lift up our collective creative energy. While readers are used to photos in the winter, poems in the spring, and short stories in the fall, we've added another one to the mix: art in the summer.

Santa Fe's artists are at the core of its identity in so many ways, and we're pleased to showcase three categories of works in our inaugural Illustrator's Cup. Thanks to our sponsor Ohori's Coffee Roasters, which provided $75 in merchandise from the store for all three winners. Honorable mentions get $20 gift cards from our advertising partners at Second Street Brewery. Watch for the entry period to open again next June.

Portrait/Caricature Winner

Georgia O'Crow
By Ellen Gregor

Gregor is a longtime Santa Fe resident with a degree in studio art and a degree in media arts. She worked in marketing and advertising for over

25 years until she began a graphic design business. So, now, she's a full-time illustrator and painter.

"Life is good," she writes in her bio statement. "I painted this as a tribute to Georgia O'Keeffe, whose famous works often include beautiful expressions of New Mexico. Crows are also an integral part of the landscape. They look like they've been in New

Mexico since the beginning of time."

Wild Art Winner

The Philosopher's Horse
By Aron Dubois

Dubois, born in 1989, is a tattooer and artist based in Santa Fe. He tells SFR that he "utilizes timeless and cross-cultural iconography from tattooing, folk art and the natural world to portray uncanny mythical narratives relative to the inner world of mankind."

Political Cartoon Winner

Exuberance
By Byrne Larsen

Larsen lives and works in Santa Fe as a public school science teacher. When not working on his MBA, biking, working or dad-ing, he enjoys self-flagellation with Western philosophy, an unhealthy fetish for the English language, and the search for meaning in this slow-moving, post-modern, Baudrillardan apocalypse. "All in the search of good fun," he writes. See a second below.

Honorable Mention

Chief Wolf Robe
By Patrick Tso

Tso is from the Navajo nation and comes from Rock Point, Arizona. His approach to art is based on the balance of Native traditions and modern teachings; striving to bridge the gap between generations.

His appreciation of his elders and their teachings is combined with modern styles of art that incorporate a graphic style with simple backgrounds and intricate portraits. He brings his vision to life through using various media.

The first pieces of art Tso created, at a very young age, were done on a small sketch pad and a pack of colored pencils. His newly found passion and talent took him on a journey that led him to earning his bachelor of arts degree in art from Fort Lewis College and he has been drawing portraits
and painting for over
10 years.

Psyche
By Jesus Avena

Avena is a student and a practicing visual artist; he has seasoned his discipline since the age of 8. Currently, he attends the Santa Fe Community College and had previously attended Capital High School.

He interned for the Art and Leadership Boys Program at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and was honored by also being selected as a SITE Santa Fe Young Curator.

He writes in his bio, "Jesus Avena aspires to continue broadening
his knowledge of the arts."

The Cost
By Byrne Larsen

Larsen's political cartoons dominated the field of entrants, so we couldn't resist including a second here. See his winning piece above.

The Fad and the Curious
By Brennan Barnhill

Barnhill is an illustrator and designer living in Santa Fe. His influences draw heavily from '90s TV animation and various comic strips, graphic novels and so forth.

He tells SFR that his work attempts to poke fun at all parts

of society. This one made our team of judges snicker—a lot.

Summer Breeze
By Stephanie Lenchard Warren

Artist Lenchard-Warren (also known as SLW) writes that she "uses natural materials to explore the self in nature as well as the nature within the self."

You can see more of her art at stephanielw.com.

Self Portrait
By Emma Bagley

Living, drawing and breezing in Santa Fe.