Belvoir women win Army art awards

Photo by Marny Malin-Award winners Claudette Downs (left) and Catherine Linberger pose for a photo with Lindberger 's "The Cake Cutter" painting. Lindberger won second place in the novice division under the water-based painting category.

What do a sword, three weddings, a magazine cover and a hike through Colorado's Garden of the Gods have in common?

All were inspirations that led to two Fort Belvoir artists receiving awards for entries in FMWR's 2008 All-Army Arts and Crafts Contest.
Army MWR awarded Catherine Linberger and Claudette Downs a second place and an honorable mention respectively.

Linberger received a second place in the novice group for her water-based "The Cake Cutter" painting and Downs received an honorable mention in the accomplished group for her oil-based "Cliff Dweller" painting.

The contest is an annual, worldwide event in which artistic pieces are submitted in a variety of different categories including ceramics, drawings, fibers, glass, metals and jewelry, mixed media 2-D, mixed media 3-D, oil-based paintings, prints and water-based paintings.
Each category distinguishes winners in two different groups, accomplished and novice.

An accomplished artist is designated by earning a degree in art or the artist has worked on a professional level and received awards.
Linberger has participated in the contest previously and won first place.

Linberger's "The Cake Cutter" painting was inspired by her husband's sword, which she had given him as a wedding gift at his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1968.

"One of my daughters married a West Point graduate and used the sword to cut the cake at her wedding," Linberger said. "And my youngest daughter also used it to cut the cake at her wedding when she married a Navy Seal this past May.

"It's something that when I see it, I have fond memories and I hope it continues in the family," Linberger said.

Linberger said she got the idea from a magazine cover and had a rather quick turnaround.

Downs has also participated in the contest previously, taking home a first place in water-based paintings and two other honorable mentions in mixed media 2-D in 2006.

Her "Cliff Dweller" painting was inspired by a place she had hiked in the Garden of the Gods outside of Colorado Springs, Colo.
"It's an area that is no longer accessible, due to problems with erosion," Downs said. "I painted it because it was a place of inspiration
and was symbolic to me.

"Here, you have this good-sized tree, just growing out of this hard, scrabble rock and just hanging on and thriving and bridging the gap between heaven and earth," Downs said.

Downs said she worked from photos and it took her approximately a year to complete.

Both women were very thankful for the assistance they received from the Kawamura Arts and Crafts Center at Belvoir.
"I am so happy that place exists," Downs said. "They are always on hand to help."

Linberger agreed.

"That place and the people who work there are just wonderful," Linberger said. "I really think the world of that center."