Local artists receive awards

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Five local women recently received awards for their outstanding artwork in the Bourbon County Arts Council's annual Fine Arts Competition and Exhibit.

Local winners in the 17th annual competition, which were announced Thursday along with other winners from Kansas and Missouri, include Bobbi Kemna, who won first place in the ceramics category; Jeanie Hart, who earned first place in the fiber art category, and Joyce Gobl, who received an honorable mention award for that category; Barbara Gibson, who won first place in the jewelry category, and Debbie Anderson, who earned an honorable mention award in that category. First place winners in the contest each received $100 prizes.

Hart, who entered a designed fiber art piece, said she was pleased to compete in the contest for the first time this year.

"It was a really nice, wonderful experience," she said. "I like to support community things, and this benefits the community. It was very well done and well organized."

Kemna said there are two reasons why she participates in the competition each year.

"It's exciting to be recognized for what you do," she said. "It's a local art show. Everyone needs to support things in our town. The second reason is because a lot of people didn't understand that I did pottery, and it's another way to showcase my work. I do it because I love it and have a passion for the clay."

Gibson, who has won first place in the contest's jewelry category each year since 2007, said it is still an honor for her work to be recognized each year.

"It's my third win so I'm excited," she said.

Hart said it was also "exciting" to hear that her project had been labeled the best in its category.

"I hated to roll on the floor, but that's how I felt," she said.

Hart's project is a black piece of bleached fabric, which is also quilted and embroidered, that features shadows of maple leaves that were placed on the fabric before it was bleached using a special technique. The bleaching process takes about an hour to complete, while the whole project took about a week to finish, Hart said.

Kemna, who has been involved with pottery for nearly 20 years, entered three pieces in this year's contest. Kemna said she chose pottery years ago due to the flexibility the medium offers the artist.

"I can just create and lose myself," she said. "It's a great medium because the clay is forgiving. If you mess up, you can just start again. It gives you an opportunity to recreate."

Hart said she chose to begin working with fibers years ago because she often liked the end result of her work.

"I like color, and the touch and feel of it and to see what I get," she said.

Gibson said the uniqueness of the medium she chose to work in is what drew her to it.

"I was fascinated by wire sculpting, which is the type of jewelry I do," she said.

The art form that Gibson practices requires her to use different types of wire that is filled with 14-karat gold and made for sculpting into jewelry. The wire is placed around faceted stones or regular gem stones to create each piece of jewelry. The prize-winning necklace that Gibson designed for the contest this year took a few hours to complete, she said.

Kemna said she chose the name "Rebecca" for her pottery piece which the contest's judge selected as best in the ceramics category.

"The name doesn't relate to anything, that's just what came to mind," she said. "It was a tall pot, and to me the name sounded like something strong and tall and that's going to be there forever."

When working on a project, Kemna said she likes to imagine the finished product as an object that could resemble a relic or artifact that is discovered many years in the future.

"I envision it being dug up 100 years from now," she said. "I use a lot of earthy tones."

About 50 artists from Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida and Vermont competed in this year's contest. A total of $1,550 in cash awards was presented to all first place winners in each category and two Best in Show winners.