Artwork by Warner Norcross + Judd LLP team members Richard A. Roane, David L.J.M. Skidmore and Christopher B. Dudley has been selected for this year’s Regional Arts Competition and Exhibition for Festival of the Arts.
This juried art competition is open to artists in Kent and surrounding counties. It will showcase two- and three-dimensional pieces of artwork, along with mixed media and photography during the annual festival, which will be held in downtown Grand Rapids June 7-9.
In honor of the 50th anniversary, Festival of the Arts will be hosting additional hospitality events with collectors and the community.
Roane, who has practiced family law and domestic relations litigation for more than three decades, will displayed “West Side Road, Beaver Island” in Festival. His painting portrays a dirt road looking through a tunnel of green trees to a lighter clearing in the roadway ahead with a few early autumn leaves just beginning to turn.
Roane drew his inspiration from his summer home on the Charlevoix County island and the 25 years he has enjoyed vacationing there.
“The remote and quiet beauty of living seasonally on Lake Michigan, 35 miles offshore on this historic, quirky island is an unparalleled experience,” Roane said. “I have had the utmost pleasure of sharing this home with family and friends over the years and wanted to continue sharing the serenity it brings me with the Grand Rapids community.”
Skidmore, a partner at the firm who focuses his practice on probate, trust and estate litigation, will have his acrylic painting titled “The Errand” displayed at Festival. Depicting an Azores woman, “The Errand” was inspired by an exhibit of the Azores people and their costumes at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts that Skidmore visited in January.
This is his first time to display his work at Festival. He has also showcased his paintings during ArtPrize.
“I enjoy painting visually arresting images and this costume was particularly so,” Skidmore explained. “So, I decided to paint it and wondered where she was going and what she was doing — hence the work’s title.”
In contrast with the acrylic piece, Dudley’s entry is an intricate graphite drawing of a dog titled “Los Ojos de Perrito” or “Puppy Eyes.” Dudley, who works as a business center assistant at Warner, also regularly tutors drawing students. In addition to showcasing his work, Dudley will illustrate some of his techniques in a one-hour instructional demonstration on June 7 from noon until 1 p.m.
This is his fourth time to display artwork at Festival, an honor he shares with his 15-year-old daughter, Alayah, this year. He has also shown his work at many other regional and local art shows.
“I believe if you have learned to read and write, you more than have the capacity to learn to draw,” Dudley said. “Drawing is a skill available to all — that is, if they truly have the desire to and are willing to practice.”
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