The opportunity to glimpse into a world of some of the most amazing artists and intimately encounter their creations is a humbling experience. It’s an honor to support their journey and be a part of their story.

iCanvas

Thank you & Acknowledgements

Once again, we would like to thank all of the artists that entered, sharing their work and their artistic passion with us. It was such a pleasure to immerse myself in the work of so many creatives from all corners of the globe and read their inspirational stories.

As Beautiful Bizarre Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief I have the pleasure and honour of curating each issue of the magazine and our yearly exhibitions. The many wonderful and talented Art Prize entries we received continue to give me a plethora of new ideas and choices to pursue in future. So thank you again for your interest in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, I very much hope to see how your work has grown and developed in next year’s Prize.

We would also like to sincerely thank the 2023 Jury Panel: particularly the Digital Art Category Judge Laura H. Rubin, who her time and expertise to the panel. Additionally, I warmly thank the other Category Judges:  Rebecca Leveille (Traditional Art juror), Ellen Jewett (Sculpture juror), and Ellen Sheidlin (Photography juror), as well as the Directors of Haven Gallery, Erica Berkowitz & Joseph Weinreb.

I would also like to thank our major partners: iCanvas, INPRNT, RAYMAR, and Yasha Young Projects; the Beautiful Bizarre team for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the prize and winners all-year round, and of course to my partner, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine‘s Co-Founder Richard Purssey. The judging process was extremely difficult with an incredible amount noteworthy entries, so thank you again!

Our sincere thanks to this year’s Digital Art Award sponsors listed below. It is through their generosity that the Digital Art Award Winners will be able to enrich their practice.

iCanvas Digital Art Award

The iCanvas Digital Art Award 1st prize winner will receive:

• $3,000 USD cash, generously donated by sponsor iCanvas, printers of high quality canvas art prints, priced for every lover of art.
• A Wacom One, Creative Pen Display. It comes with all the essentials to spice up your digital life. There’s the natural pen feel on the 13.3” screen, the included creative software – even the ability to connect to certain Android devices.
• Rebelle 6 Pro worth USD$149.99, generously donated by Rebelle. Rebelle is the award-winning, hyper-realistic painting software with paint pigments colour mixing, oil thickness, watercolour diffusion and NanoPixel technology, which convincingly mimics the way natural media interact with the canvas and itself.
• A beautiful, specially commissioned glass art award trophy.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery, in New York, USA, alongside 80+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• 3 month social media advertising package (Beautiful Bizarre Magazine: 1 million+ followers across all social platforms).
• Winning artwork printed in the December 2023 issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, as part of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize editorial.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• A coupon to enjoy Linktree PRO for free for 12 months.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

2nd prize winner will receive:

• Wacom Intuos Pro Medium which offers you more natural creative control than ever before. Combined with the super-sensitive Wacom Pro Pen 2, Wacom’s sleek new tablet looks and feels amazing.
• Rebelle 6 Pro worth USD$149.99, generously donated by Rebelle. Rebelle is the award-winning, hyper-realistic painting software with paint pigments colour mixing, oil thickness, watercolour diffusion and NanoPixel technology, which convincingly mimics the way natural media interact with the canvas and itself.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery, in New York, USA, alongside 80+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• A coupon to enjoy Linktree PRO for free for 12 months.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

3rd prize winner will receive:

• Wacom Intuos, with a light, super-accurate pen and free downloadable software to suit your style; Wacom Intuos is built to bring your wildest ideas to life.
• Rebelle 6 Pro worth USD$149.99, generously donated by Rebelle. Rebelle is the award-winning, hyper-realistic painting software with paint pigments colour mixing, oil thickness, watercolour diffusion and NanoPixel technology, which convincingly mimics the way natural media interact with the canvas and itself.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery, in New York, USA, alongside 80+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• A coupon to enjoy Linktree PRO for free for 12 months.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

Congratulations to the 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize iCanvas Digital Art Award Winners: Loles Romero, Ingrid Baars, and Garis Edelweiss!

3rd Prize Winner

Loles Romero

Currently residing: Spain

“Bajo El Agua”, Wacom Cintiq/Photoshop

Loles Romero is an illustrator and concept artist from the island of Ibiza. She usually works with digital media combining pictorial techniques with textures to create an organic aspect similar to traditional media. After graduating from ‘Escola d’Art d’Eivissa’ in 2004, she continued her education with various courses in illustration and concept art. She currently works in the publishing field, as well as in advertising and video games, creating cover art, interior illustrations, concept art and character design. At the same time she continuously develops her personal projects, which revolve around the fantastic and the ambiguous, inspired by nature, folklore and mythology. In her illustrations the use of light predominates to enhance the narrative and evoke different emotions.

“Bajo El Agua”: A work of spontaneity, merges the fortuity creation and the deliberate detail in an exercise to explore the nature of these fantastic creatures. The mermaid’s character is ambiguous, her lines blurry and undefined, so are her actions.

2nd Prize Winner

Ingrid Baars

Currently resides: The Netherlands

“ROSE”, Nikon D850, iMac, Photoshop

Ingrid Baars graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy of Art in Rotterdam and worked as an independent illustrator and photographer, showing her work in Galleries from the year 2000 onwards. In 2010 she halted all commercial activities and devoted herself to her artistic development. She was nominated multiple times and published in international design and art magazines since 2005.

“ROSE”: Inspired by the Virgin Mary tradition, she emanates divine grace and compassion. ROSE offers solace and support to all who can identify with her image. With tears, she underscores the strength found in vulnerability and the unwavering determination to conquer life’s trials. She is a symbol of empowerment and unity, ROSE celebrates the strength within us all.

1st Prize Winner

Garis Edelweiss

Born and Currently residing: Indonesia

“The Healer”, Procreate

Garis Edelweiss is a visual artist from the coastal city of Pasuruan, Indonesia. By choosing an anti-gravity style reminiscent of surrealism, Garis explore themes of environmental existence, the relationship between dreams and the living reality, all intertwined with elements of living creatures in their surroundings. Utilizing both manual and digital techniques, he consistently prioritize intricate details of objects, such as feathers, hair, pores, and other fine strokes. His artistic vision has been greatly influenced by their late father, a local cultural advocate actively promoting the acculturation of coastal cultures, shaping Garis Edelweiss’s unique perspective in each of his works.

“The Healer”: Depicts the journey of a woman from being a little girl to becoming a healer. Like a beautiful rose with thorns, she learns to bear deep burdens, understands the bitter roots of wounds in this world, and navigates life with gentleness from the day she was born. Throughout her life’s journey, she proves that love and kindness are the most potent remedies, facing challenges with courage, and with each action, she heals the wounds around her, bringing light to darkness, and with her love, she mends the wounded world.