Keene Artist Wins People’s Choice Award at Thorne Art Gallery
From Jackie Hooper, Thorne: Nicole Caulfield of Keene has been chosen the winner of the People’s Choice Award for her colored pencil work Zen in the 2009 Biennial Regional Jurors’ Choice Exhibition at the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery. Caulfield, a still-life and portrait artist, won this award based on votes by visitors to the regional exhibition, which continues through Thursday, Feb. 26.
Out of 319 votes cast, Caulfield’s colored pencil drawing of her oldest daughter, Katie, received the most ballots. She will receive a $100 cash award along with the People’s Choice Commendation. The Friends of the Thorne sponsor this award as well as the $500 Jurors’ Best of Show prize Caulfield won for the same work.
Caulfield says on her website that she is drawn to realism because of the beauty of the ordinary world and the challenge of rendering it. “The beauty of ordinary objects lit perfectly sitting on a table, the light hitting a child’s eyes so that sparkle comes through, the light bouncing around the inside of a box — these ordinary, yet spectacular, moments inspire me to create a piece of artwork,” she explains.
Caulfield’s work is shown regularly in New England galleries, including the Monadnock Fine Art Gallery in Keene and the Sharon Arts Juried Gallery in Peterborough. Her work has appeared nationally and internationally in exhibits such as the Catharine Lorillard Show and Salmagundi Show in New York City; the Guild of Realism Show in Scottsdale, Arizona; and the UKCPS Show in Nottingham, England, where she won first prize in 2007. She teaches her colored pencil techniques locally at Artworks in Keene and at the Sharon Arts Center. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University School of Art.
