2015 Artists of Texas Photography Rural Texas Exhibition by Visual Language

2 0 1 5 Rural Texas First Annual Artists of Texas Photography Show

Photography Celebrating the Diversity of Texas

Uptown Downtown Art Gallery Rockwall, Texas

All works are the sole property of the artists and protected by copyright - 2015

AOT PHOT OGRA PHY 2015

Rural Texas Photography Celebrating the Diversity of Texas

Contents

Introduction

Grand Prize Stephen Fisher

First Place Beckey Zajicek page 6-7

page 3

page 4-5

Second Place Ricky Niell page 8-9

Honorable Mention page 10-11

Rounding out the Top Twenty Five page 12-20

Judge Dion McInnis page 21

Thanks page Back Cover

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“Texas our Texas, All hail the mighty state! Texas our Texas, So wonderful so great! Boldest and grandest, Withstanding ev’ry test; O Empire wide and glorious, You stand supremely blest. God Bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong. That you may grow in power and worth, Thro’out the ages long. “ *

Texas is the second largest state in the United States, filled with deserts, pine forests and the Rio Grande River which forms its border with Mexico. The state has four distinct regions, The North Central Plains, The Great Plains, the Mountains and Basins and the Coastal Plains. • • • • • • •

Geographically, Texas has a total of seven regions. Big Bend Country Gulf Coast Hill Country Panhandle Plains Piney Woods Prairies and Lakes South Texas Plains

Texas has a diverse population to fill the 268,820 sq miles of land. Boasting large cities with Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and more, the many roads of 675,580 miles crisscross the state weaving through what Texans love, Rural Texas. Rural Texas is the heart of the land. Some rural towns have less than 100 residents and others count in below 1000. There is a world outside city life and it is often missed or forgotten. This missed beauty in Texas is truly the real Texas, Rural Texas. This year the Artists of Texas chose “Rural Texas, Celebrating the Diversity of the Land” as the theme for the first annual photography competition. The final show of the top three photos is hosted by Uptown Downtown Art

Gallery in Rockwall Texas. Rockwall was once a small rural Texas town, but in the past years has grown to be a thriving small city of its own. The gallery captures the feel of being rural and is the perfect place for this first year’s competition.

Artists chosen for the top 25 photography online Rural Texas show are: Nick Adamo, Al Baxter, Kate Bazin, Jerry Brown, Robin Carter, Andrea Chandler, Willetta Crowe, Darby Donaho, Stephanie Duprie Routh, Melinda Harvey, Hanna Hoffman, Cole Jackson, Brendan Kelly, Michael Lloyd, Ricky Niell, Susan Whitfield, Stephen Fisher, Robert Lowe, and Becky Zajicek. * The state song is “Texas, Our Texas” by William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright.

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Rural Texas | Grand Prize

Stephen Fisher http://www.stephenfisherphotography.com/

Stephen Fisher is an award-winning freelance wildlife and nature photographer based out of Rockport, Texas. He spends as much time as possible in the Coastal Bend area of Texas making photographs of this special region. After years of being an “enthusiastic amateur” photographer, Stephen Fisher Photography was created in early 2011. Stephen’s images are exhibited at the Treehouse Art Collective , in Corpus Christi, TX and the Art Center of Corpus Christi. He also regularly exhibits in the Member’s Gallery at the Rockport Center for the Arts, Rockport, Texas. Stephen competed in the 2013 Wildlife in Focus photography contest representing the Texas Photo Ranch. He is available there for nature photography instruction and guide services.

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The Barn ÂŠ Stephen Fisher 2015

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Rural Texas | First Place

Beckey Zajicek

Beckey Zajicek is a member of the Live Oak Photo Society in Columbus, Texas. Her love of art began in the early 1980’s as she started to work with painting and oil pastels. In 2010 she borrowed a camera to see if she could learn to use it. Her passion for photography takes her into a life’s journey today shooting wildlife, landscape, local color, and people. She continues to push the edge learning more about her art form. Travel photography is her favorite subject. Beckey was awarded a reserve best in show in 2009 Colorado County Fair for a picture of her grandson. She took first place in 2010 in The Citizen’s Kids and Pets photography contest. Her photo titled, “Not the Last Picture Show” was picked in the top 40 of 250 entered works of art in the 2011 juried art show at the LOAC. Beckey has been a part of the local community in Columbus, Texas, since 1968 and is the owner of Beckey’s Cafe for over twelve years.

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Storm’s Comin’ © Beckey Zajicek 2015

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Rural Texas | Second Place

Ricky Niell http://www.razzledazzleart.com/

My first camera that would actually count as a decent cam was a Pentax 35mm. I used that thing till 2002 when I bought a Sony CD500. It was a 5Mp digital with no EVF and the images were stored on a CD-RW. The cam had a CD burner embeded in it that wrote the files to a re-writable disc. It was a nice little cam but very slow between shots because of the CD storage. My next cam was a Panasonic FZ-50. 10Mp with a nice f/2.8 lens. I took thousands of images with it and it was a great cam if only I had a clue as to how to shoot it properly. Next was a Pansonic G1 with a 14-45 and 45-200 lens. It was quite a step up from the FZ-50, but it’s focus speed was lacking. Then SONY came out with their SLT line of cams. I bought a SLT-A33 and fell in love with it’s super fast and accurate focus. Shot that cam for a year or so until I got the SLT-A77. It was a turning point for me because I learned every little nuance of that cam. Shot if for exactly two years and now I shoot a pro model Sony SLT-A99. It’s 24Mp full frame sensor and super fast auto focus along with it’s full time live view make shooting a pleasure. My philosophy about photography is simple. Try to get images that are interesting, good composition and sharp focus. It’s not the camera, it’s the person controlling it.

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Cindy ÂŠ Ricky Niell 2015

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Rural Texas | Honorable Mention

Ready For Work © Stephen Fisher 2015

Texas Four Wheeler © Michael Lloyd 2015

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Ricefield Road © Beckey Zalick 2015

Herd 2 © Robert Lowe 2015

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Rural Texas | Top 25

Vestige © Cole Jackson 2015

Country Comfort © Robin Carter 2015

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Country House © Al Baxter 2015

Shelby Store © Nick Adamo 2015

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Rural Texas | Top 25

Honey of a Day © Susan Whitfield 2015

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Rural Texas | Top 25

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Rural Texas | Top 25

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Rural Texas | Top 25

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Dion McInnis Judge of the AOT Rural Texas Photography Show Dion McInnis, president and founder of The Empowered Creativity Institute, states “I became a photographer at six, a writer at 12 and a poet since birth.” After a career as writer-photographer, he entered the realm of higher education in 1987 where he served four universities over a 27-year period in development and fundraising, alumni/ community relations, external relations and communications. McInnis is also the author of six books. A life of seeing led to his cornerstone message: SEE differently; CHANGE perspectives; GROW authentically. He has written for two national photography magazines and has been exhibited in a variety of shows. He currently instructs with the Houston Center for Photography, the Jung Center-Houston and several photography clubs. His style of photo reviews has made him a favorite at several clubs in the Houston area. For three summers he taught one week each at the University of West Bohemia in Czech Republic, guiding students from Czech Republic, Russia and Ukraine. His presentations inspired by the trips emphasized “art removes borders.” He often blends words and images in his work. He states that he lives in the city but has dirt in his blood, a connection to rural people, places and culture. He is currently working on a personal book about his visit to Mississippi to better understand his roots on his father’s side. His trips to his property in East Texas feed his rural eyes and Southern roots.

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Thanks to Uptown Downtown Art Gallery for hosting Rural Texas Photography Show with the Artists of Texas.

GALLERY HOURS: Sunday CLOSED Monday CLOSED Tuesday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM UPTOWN DOWNTOWN GALLERY & STUDIO 301 North San Jacinto Street, Rockwall, TX, 75087 United States (214) 304-6002 thegalleryfive@gmail.com ARTISTS OF TEXAS ArtistsofTexas.org artistsoftexas.org@gmail.com Created through Visual Language Magazine Design by: David Forks dforks@gmail.com â&#x20AC;˘ DavidForks.com