“On the Fence” was made by Angela Navarette, of Plano, Texas. The image won Best Illustrative in the General Exhibit and Best Wildlife at Summerfest ‘15. “I took that image with my d700 and my 70-200 on a walk along the pier in Destin, Florida. I needed a case filler for IPC. Inspired by my friend, Maria Bernal, who can whip up beautiful artwork in no time, I gave myself a strict time limit (literally 3 hours) to work on this particular piece and stuck to it. I was pushing myself to be creative and have fun. I pulled items from various photos I had taken on our family trip such as the clouds, umbrellas, grass, and tried my hand at a little painting in Photoshop.
Having recently met Sandra Pearce at IPC that year, I was completely blown away by her work and was especially drawn to her whimsical pieces. To make the image a little more fun and give it a story, I added the fish last, rolled the bird’s eyes up and called it ‘On the Fence.’
Even though this piece did not merit, I still love it because it helped me to grow. I love the whimsy of it. Having fun with your work is even more important than gaining merits because I feel like that is what pushes your growth. It did win Best Illustrative General Exhibit and Best Wildlife at Summerfest 2015. Can’t beat that for just having fun!”
