Each year, the Texas Crab Festival celebrates Music, Art, Crabs, and Gulf Coast style. And, artists are called to create the annual TCF t-shirt design with these themes central to their design. The t-shirt design contest received 14 entries this year, the largest ever. TCF volunteers and enthusiasts met last Thursday at Jose’s Steakhouse to select winners of the t-shirt art contest and prepare for the big event. All gathered to hear what is planned for the 2019 Texas Crab Festival and cast their vote for the best design.

As the entries were displayed for voters to study, each person was given a token to select their favorite. After the first round of voting, the top four designs were chosen for a second round of voting. Then two winners were chosen. The first place design will be printed on the official 2019 Texas Crab Festival t-shirt which will be available for purchase as early as next month. The second place design will be printed on the “Crab Patrol” t-shirts worn by all volunteers at the festival.

Big Thanks to all the artists who participated in this time honored TCF tradition. And Congratulations to the winners!

First Place – Theresa Liddle-Bernsen

I am a country girl at heart, born in Cincinnati, Ohio and living outside of Bright, Indiana till I was ten gave me a grounded attitude on life. I now live in Beaumont, Texas and appreciate the life and friends I have here now.

I think I have always had a love for art even when I was a child. Watching my mother draw, I had an appreciation for art even then. I was always self taught and attended Lamar University but never finished my degree there, in 1997 when I moved to Mississippi I went back to school. Received my Associate Arts degree from Jones County Junior College and while there I received scholarship to attend William Carey College in Gulfport, MS. There I completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2001. My concentrations were in drawing and ceramics.

I have had a one woman show at the Texas Artist Museum in Port Arthur. Have shown work at the Art League of Beaumont and currently have a piece at The Music Studio downtown Beaumont. I also have works in private collections in Texas and Mississippi.

My work is part of a continuous spiritual journey into creating a magic and satisfaction for myself and a pleasure for others. I appreciate abstract and conceptual art but I am basically a realistic and functional artist. Both functional and abstract art is needed for a balance in the art world and my work is just one side of this balance.

Drawing gives me the opportunity to create work that hopefully will allow you to see something in the objects you may not have noticed otherwise. Art is a very personal experience and because of this I leave a part of myself with each piece.

Second Place – Patty Hagstrom

Particia Hagstrom has been a resident artist in Crystal Beach since 1986! Her tropical themed water colors and silk screens translate our aquatic environment into a rich blend of paper and paint; her unique colors and style explode with her vibrant feel for our local scene. Her academic background began with a BS degree from Villa Maria College in Erie, PA and a BFA degree from Dominican College in Houston, TX. She then pursued her advanced art studies with a scholarship from Gonzaga University in Florence, Italy and obtained her Masters Degree from the University of Houston.
 
 
ARTIST STATEMENT
“I have an obsession with the Beauty of the Ocean and the profound affinity we have with it. With you as the viewer, I can create a visual experience. The empathy with Nature could not exist without the two of us…”

Third Place – Cynthia AllenFourth Place – Lori Lofton