The Artist Space Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the fourth Animals online Art Exhibition. Along with the selected artists, the jury selected award winners in the following art categories: painting, sculpture and photography. The show displayed a variety of artistic styles and mediums: acrylic, watercolor, pastel, colored pencil, charcoal, scratchboard, graphite, lapidary art, oil, digital art, photography. Out of all submissions received 75 artworks were selected to be included in the exhibition.
Best of Show
Harvey Bodach
Short Biography and Statement
Harvey Bodach is an internationally recognized, award-winning landscape and wildlife artist known for capturing the natural world of creation with life-like depth in paintings and moving compositions using a realism style. Born in 1955, he grew up as the eldest of three sons, living in a three-story house on the edge of High Park in the City of Toronto. His creative and self-motivating personality during his early years set the patterns for his life. Undergraduate studies earned him a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree, leading him into a commercial arts career as an art director, graphic designer and illustrator for 20 years. At that time he also freelanced on a part time basis. Later post-graduate studies earned him a Bachelor of Education degree. This led him into a 24 year high school teaching career with teachables in visual arts, multi-media and photography. With retirement coming in 2019, Bodach moved to solidify a third career path as a full time visual artist, successfully marketing his work with a number of solo and group exhibitions in Canada and the United States. A number of Media forms have since recognized his growing success including both magazine periodicals and a new book “The Artists of Georgian Bay” published in 2025. The natural landscapes and wildlife he explores become catalysts of understanding and motivations to create great expressions in paintings, sculptures and drawings. Landscapes and wildlife of North America are still a focus, but Africa and Asia are on the horizon. Bodach works primarily with acrylics and oil-based paints expressed in a realism style on gesso grounded masonite boards that he prepares himself. As a realist painter and sculptor, he presents a strong compositional narrative of movement in landscapes, the stage for where complexities of life of wild animals and birds are played out.
Painting Prize
Sylvie Bujold
Short Biography and Statement
From Québec, this artist, a graduate in visual arts, has developed a unique technique for painting horses in acrylic, capturing their grace and power with remarkable precision. Her techniques and mastery of the medium were acquired in a self-taught manner through numerous pictorial explorations. What makes the artist truly unique is that she does more than simply paint horses—she goes out to meet them. From these encounters, her creativity is filled with a surge of inspiration, setting off “at a gallop” to express and transcend the individuality and personality of each subject. Her unconditional love for animals is reflected in every one of her works, where each detail is carefully crafted, revealing both her perfectionism and her boundless passion
Sculpture Prize
Richard Britschgi
Short Biography and Statement
swavancouver.com/richard-britschgi
Being a lapidary artist is a solitary yet deeply rewarding pursuit. It’s a craft that not many can endure, given its challenges. It’s hard to imagine what to do with rocks, because ultimately, the rocks themselves dictate their potential. Each stone, when I cut into it, reveals its own story—its shape, size, color, strength, and fractures all influence its destiny. It’s a complex and demanding process, to say the least. Lapidary work is a true test of the senses—primarily vision and imagination (if that can be called a sense). My creations are born from the natural world of geology, and I aim to transform that into representations of the living world—birds, insects, animals, fungi (like mushrooms)—whenever possible and permitted. I also enjoy polishing rocks for other artists, providing them with materials to bring their visions to life. My hope is that viewers pause to appreciate the craftsmanship and effort poured into each piece, recognizing the beauty and story within everyone.
Photography Prize
Shawna Hinkel
Short Biography and Statement
Shawna Hinkel is a Master Photographer and Certified Professional Photographer from Dallas, Texas. She has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Texas A&M University, and has been a professional photographer since 2004. She earned her PPA Certification in 2014 and PPA Master of Photography degree in 2019. In 2023, she became the second Master of WPE from the United States, and became a Grand Master Photographer in Fine Art from MPI in 2025. Her work has been accepted into PPA’s Imaging Excellence and Showcase collections every year since 2016, and she received the Imaging Excellence Award in 2025. She also received her AIM Master of Animal Imagery degree in 2026. She was the Dallas Professional Photographers Association Photographer of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and was awarded Life Membership in 2020. She was also named as one of the Top 10 photographers in Texas in 2020. She received the American Society of Photographers’ State Elite Award in 2020 and the Photographic Artistry Award in 2026. She has won a variety of other awards, and has been featured in multiple art gallery exhibitions. She served as 2025 President of Texas Professional Photographers Association and is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief/Copy Editor of ASP Magazine. There are so many wonderful animals in the world. Some are jovial and funny; some are shy and reserved. It is amazing to watch them interact with each other and observe how much like humans they are. They show a variety of personalities and emotions. Spending the time to get to know them and see their individuality is very rewarding. I hope more people can find a deeper understanding and affection for them. If we spent more effort helping to save them and their environments, what a better world it would be.
Winners