I was honored to receive an award from Stephen Doherty, Editor of “Plein Air Magazine” for the painting done at Hollywood Farm, just outside the city, during the juried “Paint Annapolis” event in Maryland, last Saturday night. Thirty artists were selected to compete from all over the U.S. and this piece won a blue ribbon and $150 merchandise award from “Guerilla Painters” company in Colorado. This was the first year the event offered an award for a piece done outside urban Annapolis.

He commented: “Steven Hill pushes the boundaries of representational painting with broad, layered strokes of color, using nothing more than simple shapes and values, in a nearly abstract way, to give the viewer a sense of time, place and implied realism. This painting embodies an excellent sense of the artists' technique, which breathes life into the scene he has presented, without relying on overly complicated visual elements.”

Mr. Doherty is the former editor -in-chief of “American Artist Magazine” with a career that spanned 31 years and is currently the editor of “Plein Air Magazine”, as well as an accomplished and engaged plein air painter. He also gave an interesting and well informed presentation on the history of plein air painting in America, at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, prior to the awards ceremony.

The collective exhibit (with 4 other pieces I created during the event) hangs at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 chase St., Annapolis, MD, through July 14.