(Images courtesy West Seattle Garden Tour)

Only three months until this year’s West Seattle Garden Tour – and today, the WSGT has just unveiled the art you’ll see on this year’s poster:

West Seattle Garden Tour announced today the artwork titled Garden Fantasia [photo above] by Edgewood artist Doreen Koch Allen [photo right] has been selected as the winner of this year’s annual art competition.

Ms. Allen is best known for her exuberant, color-infused paintings. Working primarily in watercolor and mixed media, inclusive of pastels and acrylics, her creations are often whimsical and playful. Ms. Allen’s deep love of nature and its offerings of detail, pattern, texture, and color are elements often found in her work. Frequently she listens to music while painting outdoors, surrounded by her extensive gardens, which will usually influence the direction of her artwork.

Her process for Garden Fantasia involved painting many successive layers to establish an interesting underpainting. From that point, she pulled out desired images through negative painting, bringing to the forefront the resulting positive shapes, blooms and botanical elements. The 40” high x 30” wide piece was painted in acrylics and uses a variety of found objects to imprint the canvas, replicating interesting textures found in nature.

Garden Fantasia will be featured on the 2018 Garden Tour’s official poster and ticket book. Ms. Allen will also receive a $500 cash prize. West Seattle Garden Tour will auction the artwork on the day of the tour, Sunday, June 24, 2018. Bids will be taken in one of the gardens from 9 am to 5 pm. Proceeds will benefit the year’s designated beneficiaries, which will be announced in early April.