Petoskey Club members win Japanese art contest

PETOSKEY — Two members of Petoskey Club recently learned they were winners of the Encouragement Award in the 5th annual Toyohashi BRUT art contest.

The contest features artwork from people of all ages with disabilities from all over the world with a goal of making connections with art through heartfelt communication.

The winning pieces were titled "Questioning Life" by Sage W. and "The Birds Eye View" by Katherine.

Sage said: “I felt humbled by winning this award. I feel that this Encouragement Award has reaffirmed my need to share more of my artwork with the world. I am one little person and I am humbled by how huge this is and how much this means to me, to be so well received. Art has always been my true purpose. The painting I named 'Questioning Life,' it is about the duality of night and day, of water, land, and warmth and cold. It’s about how opposites attract and that we need to find people with all these different aspects to realize we are all one people. No race, just us, under the same sun.”

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Katherine said she hadn’t painted in a while until she learned of this contest.

“I came from money and always wanted to see what I could do on my own," she said. "I entered and won an award and that’s pretty amazing. 'The Birds Eye View' title of the painting is based off what a seagull might feel or see while in Mackinaw City. A quote from a book I’ve read relates to my passion for art: ‘What if money weren’t the object and you knew you could not fail ... what passion would you pursue?’”

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey Club members win Japanese art contest