Bleeding Hearts Photo Contest 2009 Winners Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 20, 2009 Contact: Amy McMorrow, 618 713 2896, heartlandartsnet@gmail.com Winners of the 2009 Bleeding Hearts Photo Contest Announced Carbondale, IL - HeartlandArts.Net is pleased to announce the winners of the Bleeding Hearts Photos Contest. The winner of the popular vote conducted online was “reaching the cold heart” by Alison Charles of DeSoto, IL.

From Bleeding Hearts Photo Contest 2009

The winner for the vote by the panel of judges was “Apprehended Obscurity” by Aunia Kahn of Shiloh, IL.

From Bleeding Hearts Photo Contest 2009

Special thanks goes out to all the photographers who participated and our panel of judges, as well as everyone who came to see the show and cast a vote online. We congratulate our winners, and all the photographers in the contest for putting on a great show! The contest was launched on Friday the 13th, with an opening reception on Carbondale’s Town Square at Art Lovers Trading Company and Fusion. The online voting has been ongoing on HeartlandArts.Net during the past week, with hundreds of votes cast and counted. Contributions in the show ranged from nature stills, which one voter described as “Simplistic, beautiful and in the genre of Georgia O'Keefe,” to artistic interpretations of the Bleeding Hearts theme. One voter commented, “They were all very good, and you all did a wonderful job putting the show together. Bring on more art!” The winner of the popular online vote, Alison Charles, is a digital artist and salesperson at B&L Photo in Carbondale. About her “reaching the cold heart” submission, she wrote:

Bleeding Hearts, the phrase can create different interpretations. I began with the literal meaning of a heart. The image "reaching the cold heart” represented the idea of a heart that cares (melts) while everything around it is cold, frozen, and empty.

For winning, Ms. Charles will be featured in a solo show at the Red Ear in Alto Pass April 3rd-12th, launching with a First Friday reception April 3rd, with more details to be forthcoming on HeartlandArts.Net. The panel of judges was Chuck Novara, Photo Editor for the Southern, Keith Cotton, Professional Photographer, and Scott Kemmerer, Visiting Assistant Professor at SIU Carbondale’s Department of Cinema and Photography. Judges for the Bleeding Hearts Photo contest met together as a group on Friday February 13, 2009, to view in person the entries for this year's competition. Each judge visited the HeartlandArts.Net website to view all of the entries individually for the next 5 days. On Wednesday February 18, 2009 the judges again met as group and viewed the images at Art Lovers Trading Company and Fusion, in Carbondale. A unanimous decision was reached in choosing Aunia Kahn, "Apprehended Obscurity". Aunia Kahn, the winner of the judges’ vote, is an internationally known mixed media artist, graphic designer and musician who currently resides in Shiloh, IL. She participates in numerous shows throughout the year including a Solo Exhibit at the International Dynamic Museum of Contemporary Art of Terra dell’Arte, Italy later this year. More about her schedule and her works can be seen online at www.AuniaKahn.com. As the winner of the judges’ vote, Ms. Kahn will be featured in a solo show at the Red Ear in Alto Pass from June 5th-21st, with a First Friday opening reception on June 5th, with more details forthcoming on HeartlandArts.Net. About the contest, Aunia said:

I would like to thank everyone for the kind acceptance into the Bleeding Hearts Photo Competition. Thank you for all the votes and support and with this I am honored today to hear that I have been selected as the winning artist. The artwork in this competition was amazing and I was very pleased to share my work in a space with some other great creatives. Again thank you very much, and come join me at my solo exhibition in June!

The show will remain online on HeartlandArts.Net, and can be seen in person over the coming week at Art Lovers Trading Company from 11:30am-6pm M-F and by appointment, and at Fusion evenings excluding Monday from 4pm. HeartlandArts.Net has additional shows coming up later this year, including another art contest in October, details to be announced. Artists and art lovers can stay up to date with the latest HeartlandArts.Net happenings by subscribing for the “Art Shows” or “Artist Marketing” newsletter on www.HeartlandArts.Net.

Opening Friday the 13th: Bleeding Hearts Photo Contest

The Bleeding Hearts Photo Contest exhibit and voting kick off this Friday the 13th, with an opening reception from 6-9pm. Everyone is welcome to view the contest entries on display at Art Lovers Trading Company and Fusion, both on Main Street along the Town Square in Carbondale, as well as online at www.HeartlandArts.Net.

There are 30 entries from 16 artists with a wide range of backgrounds, from aspiring students of photography to professionals with international followings. The contest’s “Bleeding Hearts” theme has inspired everything from eye-catching nature stills to thought-provoking portraits and digital interpretations, reflecting the diverse and tumultuous emotional undercurrent of current times. We have gotten a great and rapid response from the artists, eager to provide their visions for a challenging theme. We believe there is something for everyone in this show, and encourage everyone to cast their votes online.

Online voting for the popular category will commence with the start of the show on Friday the 13th, and winners will be announced February 20th. Two winners, one of the popular category and one by a vote by a panel of judges, will be featured at solo shows during the month of April. For more information, visit www.HeartlandArts.Net or call (618) 713 2896.