A watercolor by Ron Louie of Papaikou titled “Favorite Spot” was awarded the People’s Choice prize in the third annual Banyan Drive Art Stroll.
“Self-taught and strongly influenced by his father’s avid painting, Ron started working in watercolors when he was 13. Outings with his father to sketch and paint while growing up in Idaho developed Ron’s keen sense of lighting and composition,” according to his website biography.
He continued painting and exhibiting his watercolors while in college at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. It wasn’t until after a career in advertising in New York that he began to paint full-time.
Since then, Louie’s work has been selected and juried into major watercolor competitions and exhibitions on both the East and West coasts. His work is in several private collections.
The prize is a $300 gift certificate from Akamai Art Supply in Kailua-Kona.
The Banyan Drive Art Stroll judged exhibit was held in the Palm Room of the Grand Naniloa Resort.
Judge Emily Catey Weiss selected “Mokuola Sunset” by Jared Goodwin for first place, “Red Bridge” by Bonnie Sol Hahn for second, “Good Morning” by Jay Takaaze for third, and “Just Walking the Dog” by Stephen Davies for honorable mention.
Across the peninsula at the Hilo Bay Café, the 2019 Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens calendar exhibit also was open for People’s Choice balloting.
“Morning Moon” by Jay Takaaze won the calendar People’s Choice.
The same image, featured on the cover and the month of December in the calendar, took grand prize in the judged competition, a doors-off ride with Bruce Omori and Mick Kalber with Paradise Helicopters.
People’s Choice award in the calendar exhibit is a $150 certificate from Cunningham Gallery in Hilo.
Photography judge Mary Goodrich selected works by Jared Goodwin, Anna Luna, Gary Bartolome, K.T. Cannon-Eger, Rita French, Lehuanani Waipa Ah Nee, Mary Konezyk, and Kenji Kuroshima, in addition to Takaaze’s cover, for the 2019 calendar.
More than 1,200 people attended the third annual Banyan Drive Art Stroll set in Lili‘uokalani Gardens, Banyan Gallery, Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Grand Naniloa Resort, Suisan Fish Market, Pandamonia’s Paleta Palace, and Hilo Bay Café.