Local artists use postcards for expression

For three straight years, Jan Ley entered the Bloomington Area Arts Council's annual postcard competition. The first two times, nothing happened. After two years of waiting and anticipating, this year, for the first time, she was selected among the top 10 in the competition with her photograph titled "Farmers' Market: August 5, 2000."\n"What's funny is that this is not my favorite photograph of the ones I entered," Ley said. "But it is the one they liked."\nLey's photograph of a truck filled with melons and pumpkins was an impromptu moment at the Farmers' Market four years ago. After taking the black-and-white photograph, Ley made some creative changes to the image. The melons and pumpkins in the photo are colored with green and orange tones to add a colorful depth to the composition.\n"I sprayed it to give it some teeth and add an extra layer," said Ley. "You have to spread it just right, you know. You can play with it."\nThe photograph was selected by a three-person jury judging photos on quality and originality. The theme of the competition is simply to submit a work that relates to Monroe County. Many of the winning pieces are photographs, but various creative arts made the top 10 as well, including watercolors and penciled sketches.\nLocal artist Joe Lee created a piece with a Hoosier twist on a famous artwork by renowned surrealist Rene Magritte. The work is titled "Blooming Man, after Magritte," and shows a man with a bowler hat surrounded by clouds whose face is covered by a basketball and whose lapel bears an IU label. The piece was drawn with colored pencil, pen and ink and was awarded an Honorable Mention.\nThe first place prize went to Marge Cornell for a photo of a snow-covered Bloomington quarry in winter titled "Icee Dawn." \nOther works, such as a watercolor by Robin Ripley, also are Bloomington scenes. Ripley's painting depicts the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and surrounding storefronts. \n"This watercolor is impressive because it is so tight, almost photographic," said Laura Best, a volunteer at the John Waldron Arts Center. "All of these works are deserving ... and some are by well-known area artists and others by student artists."\nTom Stio, a renowned photographer, won Honorable Mention for a photograph that features IU ballet dancers performing "Swan Lake." The dancers are caught in a moment of fluid motion, gracefully surrounded by their flowing costumes. Stio has photographed dancers for years.\n"The first time I did it, I loved it," said Stio, a former dancer. "I have been doing it for 20 years."\nAll of the winning artworks are now on display at the Flashlight Gallery in the John Waldron Arts Center, and each winning piece can be bought as a postcard in the gift shop for 50 cents. Some of the original pieces are also for sale. \n-- Contact staff writer Olivia Morales at ormorale@indiana.edu.