Congratulations to our Spring Show 2025 People's Choice Award Winners

March, 2025

A new feature of the current Spring Show at Gallery 223 was balloting by gallery visitors for a People’s Choice Award. 

Congratulations to GLAF artist members Shelly Heiss and Lori Valus.

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Shelly’s work is titled “Autumn Flame” and measures 7x9 inches. It depicts three trees and birds in flight. She made the piece with fused glass and powder frits. She used the sgraffito technique in which the trees and birds were drawn on the glass sheet with glass powder. Everything was fired in a kiln as the final step at her home studio in Williams Bay. 

“The theme for the GLAF Spring Show was ‘Into the Light,’” Shelly said. “It inspired me to try this technique. I’m blessed to have art as a hobby and pastime,” she said. “It’s really a passion and one of my favorite things to do.” 

Lori’s award-winning work was a 5x7-inch watercolor painting titled “Three Chickadees.” The piece shows three birds on a branch. She said she has done art since the second grade. “I knew I was going to be an artist back then,” she said. “There were a lot of artists in my family, and my older sister was artistic. She was an influence on me. I like the experience of being creative,” she said. “I like to experiment with different materials such as watercolor papers.”