An Abbotsford artist and teacher has won a provincial art competition for the second consecutive year.
Shannon Thiesen won the B.C. Provincial Art Battle on Saturday night in front of a 350-person crowd at The Red Room in Vancouver and now advances to the national competition in Toronto on July 27.
The contest involved 18 artists – who had won regional events – competing for a chance to represent B.C. at the nationals.
Competitors had 20 minutes to create a piece of art, with the public deciding the winner. Artists used acrylic paint, and the tools used were brushes, palette knives and other non-mechanical implements.
There were three rounds of six artists, with the winning two from each round progressing to a fourth and final round of six artists.
Thiesen completed a portrait of a woman for both her preliminary round and in the finals.
Thiesen is a Grade 4/5 art teacher at Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts.
She said she originally started competing in the art battle competition to show her students that “creativity takes courage.”
“I then became addicted to the thrill of painting live. Painting with other phenomenal artists has made me work harder and become a better artist,” she said.
Since battling, Thiesen has been named a 2016 Abbotsford Arty Award winner and the 2016 University of the Fraser Valley Young Distinguished Alumni Award winner.
She has also painted pianos in New York City for the Sing For Hope project for the past two years.
