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 Faces of Those Around Us 

Feb. 1-28, 2026



work in progress

Juror Comments and Bio

Biography

Lydia Horvath is an artist, poet, musician, and art teacher living and working in Toledo, Ohio. She currently teaches 6th through 12th grade students at Toledo School for the Arts. Influential experiences have included the Teacher Institute in Contemporary Art at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010, a National Artist Teacher Fellowship which funded a letterpress and printmaking intensive at Ox-Bow in 2014, and a week-long humanities seminar for educators at Philips Exeter Academy in 2016. Lydia is most at home with 2-D mediums, in particular watercolor, acrylic, all kinds of drawing, and relief and monotype printmaking. In recent years she has been experimenting with combinations of these; incorporation of text has also been important to her. People of any kind are her very favorite subject matter. In addition to the visual arts, Lydia is a vocalist in Madison Avenue Band and a section leader in the Collingwood Presbyterian choir, as well as a writer of poetry; both passions are important influences on her visual work, and vice-versa.


Juror comments

Portraiture has always had a special place in my heart. Since I was young, people and animals were always my favorite subject matter, and that continues to this day in both my formal studio art practice and in my job as a caricaturist. The things I love about portraiture are also the things I love about this outstanding selection of artworks: emotional content, glimpses of personality, and the presence of soul. These characteristics are both what unite living, sentient beings, and also what makes each one of us unique – and they’re on abundant display as you look at these pieces with their similarities and beautiful variety. What makes it all the more engaging is sensing not only the emotion, personality, and soul of the subjects, but also that of the artists coming through in individual style, medium, and personal touch. I know you will enjoy experiencing this collection as much as I enjoyed choosing it!

The Awards

BEST IN SHOW

Mother’s Day by Monica Birsen

This piece struck me at once with its evocative use of light and shadow and the beauty and quiet grace of the subject. The layered watercolor pigments, hazy and translucent, hint at the layers of thought and memory embodied by the sitter. The compositional use of blues throughout creates unity, while the contrast of the brilliant highlights and the dark doorway keep the eye engaged. I also personally enjoy the loose yet precise handling of the watercolor medium. This piece perfectly embodies the characteristics I value in portraiture: personality, emotion, and soul.

FIRST PLACE

Who’s Going to the Groomer by Nancy Honaker

In this beautifully executed double portrait, we’re presented with a contrast of moods expressed by a pet owner and his pet. The owner seems focused on the task at hand, while the dog looks excited and ready for whatever comes. The setting, inside a vehicle, provides a feeling of a “moment in time” that’s over quickly, but frozen in time through art. The near-photographic, virtuosic handling of the medium emphasizes both the snapshot-like selection of the image and the visually appealing textures of the dog’s fur, the flannel jacket, and the man’s facial hair, all of which invite the viewer to stay with this fleeting moment for as long as possible.

SECOND PLACE

Navarre Passing Glance by Kelly Chalfant

In our age of smartphones, it’s easy to take photographic self portraits for granted. However, in this piece the artist’s use of color and composition cause us to reconsider the potential artistic power of the selfie. I was particularly drawn in by the way the mirror framing the face is a small horizontal composition within a larger vertical one – this catches the viewer off guard and keeps the eye moving around the image. The analogous color scheme of blue, green, and yellow surrounding the mirror provides another source of visually intriguing contrast with the colors of skin, hair, and red lipstick in the reflection. The subject’s self-assured, slightly amused expression provides the human connection that brings it all together as a highly successful image.

THIRD PLACE

Photo Realism by Donlyn Meyers

This portrait is a perfect example of how much emotional meaning can be conveyed through this choice of subject matter and composition. The close-up framing and lack of discernable setting put all the focus on the subject’s face, and there is so much there to observe! The longer you spend looking at it, the more this piece rewards you with layers of thought, mood, and interpretation of the man’s far-away gaze. The depth of color and value achieved by the artist’s handling of watercolor gives the piece an exceptionally tactile illusion of form, space, and texture. My guess is that there will be as many interpretations of what this subject is thinking as there are viewers who spend time with this piece.