(Four days with a bad cold – too much Artprize?)

Last Thursday I cast my one and final vote for Tracy Van Duinen and “Imagine That!,” the mosaic on the side of the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. Weeks before Artprize officially began, this piece was complete. If everything is as well done and magical as this, Grand Rapids is in for a real treat I thought. Today I changed my vote. I’m voting instead for Ran Ortner’s “Open Water no. 24.”

Initially, I had dismissed Open Water. I thought it was a photograph, and although still a great image, I was not compelled to vote for it. A few days ago I learned it was a painting. Today I looked again, up close this time. It’s very good. It’s beautiful. I’m glad it’s in the top ten. The paint appears to have been applied with ease and the colors mixed by someone who knows water well. I overheard the artist telling someone today that he’s a surfer and when he is in the water he studies it. This adds to my appreciation of the work. He has an active, conscious, connection with water. He spends time in it and on it in a way few of us do. And even though the waves are large they are not threatening. They are full and open, as the title suggests…inviting, graceful, and wild. It’s wonderful.

I’m glad I took another look.