Give Douglas J. Webster a word and he will create an image.

The Penn Hills artist painted a little girl with a violin from the word “encore.”

The adorable youngster with the sparkling eyes and bold orange dress with the Peter Pan collar clutches the instrument in her left hand, ready to perform. There are 3D butterflies to her right, that seem to float off the page.

“Encore” won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s virtual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival held June 5-14. It is given to the artist with the most votes among attendees.

“When someone says a word, I immediately picture an image,” said Webster, 61. “Winning this award has really boosted my confidence. Being part of the arts festival has been an amazing experience.”

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Heyyyyy! Everyone The Results are in for the Three Rivers Arts Festival the "Peoples Choice Award" and because of the over whelming numbers of votes (23%)...."Encore" has ""WON" Thank you all for your votes and support. This has truly given me another level of confidence as I pursue to take this gift of God to the next Level... I am grateful and very appreciative of you all!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤??????????????????

A post shared by DouglasJ (@douglasjartist) on Jun 16, 2020 at 2:09pm PDT

Webster draws with soft pastels on a suede board and said the two are like a marriage. They fit so well together. He said the girl he painted in “Encore” is no one he knows, just someone from his imagination.

Courtesy of Douglas J. Webster Penn Hills artist Douglas J. Webster works on the painting “Encore.” The piece won the People’s Choice Award for the Transverse: Juried Visual Art Exhibition at the virtual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival earlier this month.  

His mission is to paint a series of children with musical instruments.

Webster’s was one of 51 works from 40 artists from hundreds of submissions featured in Transverse: Juried Visual Art Exhibition. Traverse was the theme given to artists and sought submissions of work “exploring ideas about altered realities, utopias and challenging the status quo.”

They were selected by four jurors — Richard Hylton, exhibition organizer, lecturer and writer; Dan Leers, curator of photography at Carnegie Museum of Art; Lise Ragbir, writer, curator and gallery director; and Jessie Rommelt of Bunker Projects.

Webster is also one of four artists to receive a Juror’s Award and is one of 10 scholarship recipients as emerging artists in the Artist Market. This program provides individuals with little to no experience exhibiting in festivals the opportunity to take an important first step toward a future in fine art and craft shows.

Ivette Spradlin was exhibition coordinator for the juried visual art exhibition. She won the Best In Show award at a previous arts festival and teaches photography at Carnegie Mellon and Pitt.

“It is a really wonderful painting,” Spradlin said of “Encore.” “It evokes a lot of emotion and I think it is representative of what we need right now for Black youth. It’s very human. It shows the vulnerability of the subject. Her toes are pointed inward and it reminds me of standing in front of people waiting for judgment or acceptance. And that is the most powerful part about it.”

Sarah Aziz, director of festival management for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, said Webster’s piece received nearly 25 percent of the vote.

She said the butterflies can be symbolic of the butterflies people often get in their stomach when they are nervous.

Courtesy of Douglas J. Webster Penn Hills artist Douglas J. Webster is inspired by music and 3D details.  

In addition to the $500 cash prize, Webster’s piece will be included in next year’s arts festival.

“Douglas’ piece definitely came through the computer,” Aziz said. “I think we can all identify with her. We have had those times as a youngster when we were nervous or excited to step on stage to perform. It won hands down.”

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