Valentine’s Day coloring contest winners announced

This year’s Valentine’s Day coloring contest conveyed much tender love and care from area youth, with The Spokesman-Review receiving 78 entries. Three winners were chosen in each age group. And, as can be expected, the judges had their hearts stolen; it wasn’t easy picking.

All winners hailed from Spokane this time around.

Ages 0-4

Among the winning contestants in the 0-4 age group were Ryker McConnell, 2, Lincoln Bloom, 4, and Elena Clarke, 3. All three submitted colorful works of art.

Ryker’s art piece contained creative loops and ombre hues, while Elena decorated her with a lovely butterfly jewel, tending to details with a green gel pen and crayons. The broken heart of Elena’s work was evocative of love’s tribulations; the judges admired such a thoughtful interpretation. Lincoln’s use of vivid markers reminded the judges of famed children’s artist Lisa Frank and a lot of emotion was felt coming from the piece.

Ages 5-8

Collective excitement echoed in the conference room as the judges began looking over submissions by contestants in the ages 5-8 category. Glitter, candy hearts, other forms of 3D textures left quite the impression, with two of the three winners utilizing space beyond the page.

Eight-year-old Roman Partridge’s piece boasted shiny, iridescent paper lace outlining the heart, complimented by the red shimmering glitter, which went on to become an interactive piece with the table decorated in the same sparkles.

Addilyn McConnell, 7, also created a border of lace around the hearts on her artwork, but instead of paper lace, she highlighted in white paint lace already outlining the big heart. Addilyn went on to add lace to the other hearts on the page to create cohesiveness across the artwork. It was clear she spent a lot of time executing such fine linework, as well as doing a wonderful job to draw the eye toward the center of the piece with a focal point.

“It makes me excited to live in Spokane” – those were the words of one judge who chose 6-year-old Emily Green’s work. Not only did the piece profess “LOVE SPOKANE” in large, sparkly letters, but also striking were the jewels and colorful puff balls.

Ages 9-12

Kira Craven, 12, like Emily, used bold lines, which initially had drawn the judges to the piece. Emotive candy hearts, a delicious box of chocolates, a cupcake and love potion spoke to the judges of creativity, as the piece called upon from popular Valentine’s Day themes and imagery.

A field of flowers from 10-year-old Kobe Richardson gave close attention to the color wheel, with the piece utilizing the colors of the rainbow to convey a beautiful floral scene.

Ingalill Larson, 10, also tended to a more pastoral scene by evoking images of February weather and nature. A buck, mallard, spotted rabbit and Canada goose graced the artwork flowing with movement.

We had a first at The S-R coloring contest: Lincoln wrote the judges a letter (with Mom’s help) to let us know how much he wanted a trophy. Well, Lincoln, unfortunately we don’t have a trophy to give you, but we hope a gift certificate to the Mobius Discovery Center downtown will bring you much joy, as we hope it brings the other winners.

Art submitted by contestants, including the winners, will be on display at the Mobius Discovery Center, 331 N. Post St.

We look forward to see more in our Easter Egg coloring contest this spring.