Published in the March 1 – 14, 2017 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Kathy Sullivan

Kathy Sullivan

Art and wine are two treats to our senses which are often favorably paired together. With Wine Week starting April 23 and culminating with the enduringly popular Wine Stroll April 29, we at the Morgan Hill Downtown Association will once again do our best to give both to our patrons. In addition to the samples of fine South Valley wines, we will feature our second annual art competition to help create a new poster for next year’s event.

We were successful in having some beautiful entries last year which incorporated the Wine Stroll event with themes of a downtown scene or related shopping, dining and drinking images. Those guests who attended last year’s showcase at the Morgan Hill Art Gallery were able to vote for the winner with a ballot included in their event package.

A very talented non-commercial artist by the name of Christine Hwang was last year’s winner. When I interviewed her, she was just back from her honeymoon. She related this was the first contest she had entered since middle school. While she never could afford art school, she continues to practice her craft and is in the middle of setting up a website for her work. She was grateful for the prize of a $100 gift certificate to local stores for art supplies, as well as a year’s membership to MHDA.

Christine’s entry was a digital drawing done with Photoshop. She gave us a modern woman with a glass of wine in her hand strolling by some seated diners. Her art work will now be used for our social media and print posters.

She kept to the required entry size of 11 inches by 17 inches or one with the ability to be reduced to that size. She also met the requirement to be older than 18 years of age since it is an adult setting.

Last year, Jeanie Watson, who was the proprietor of the Morgan Hill Art Gallery, reached out to artists in the Valle del Sur Guild. Even though the Art Gallery is no longer open, Jeanie is still helping promote and sell area artist’s works and had encouraged Christine to send in her award-winning entry. This year, we hope to cast a wider web so we can even more entries and showcase them during the 2018 Wine Week. So consider this an open invitation to all you budding artists out there to drink and draw responsibly — and send your wine-themed masterpieces to us by April 21. Additional information about submissions can be obtained by calling MHDA at (408) 779-3190. Next year you, too, can know the thrill of having your artwork promoted around town and seen by the more than 1,000 attendees to the downtown Wine Stroll.

Kathy Sullivan is a board member of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. She wrote this column for Morgan Hill Life.