 Hello Monet Cafe family. It's that exciting time again at the beginning of a new month of April where I announced the winners of the monthly painting challenge for March where the theme was nocturn paintings. Man, it feels like it's been a long month, right? March just felt so long, so much going on in our world. And I'd like to show you, I thought I would do this nice little presentation where I show you some of my top choices for each category. You know we have the categories of beginner, intermediate, and advanced. And I'd like to share with you some of the ones I pulled out in each category and announced the winners. Now here is the beginner category. I pulled out these paintings. This one, I really loved the energy of this wave, the moonlight reflection on the wave, the colors, the translucency. And for a beginner, this was really great work. And this is by Jessie D. I think Jessie said, this might be her last month in the beginner category. So way to go, Jessie. This is a lovely painting. Now here's another one that I pulled out. I'll have the winners of each one at the last painting that I show. This is one by Joanna Thompson. And Joanna's been contributing to our group for a while now. And this was just such an interesting perspective. Looks like if you're laying on the ground looking up through the trees to this beautiful starry, looks like an aurora borealis scene, which is just gorgeous. Not easy to do either. So remember, these are beginners. This is amazing work. And most of you probably know the beginner category is you're painting less than a year. You're in that category if you've been painting less than a year in any medium. So you can't be painting in oil for 20 years and then pick up pastels and be considered a beginner. So I try to keep it kind of fair, you know. So that's a lovely painting, Joanna. All right. The next one was by Kathy Pilkenten. I hope I saved these names right. Look at the mood to this. I really just loved you captured that scene so beautifully. I have seen skies just like this. And then the combination of the play of the warm and cool is just beautiful. And the little random lights in those buildings, the building skyline, or like cityscape, even like a little maybe steeple of a church, the little celbut thing. This is a lovely, lovely nocturne image. Awesome, Kathy. Very beautiful. I liked this one. Really, I loved the energy. And I really liked that Kathy, now forgive me with your name, Kathy, Assuming the P is silent. SEGIANNACI. SEGIANNACI? Anyway Kathy, that's a beautiful painting. And what I liked about it was you mentioned that you did it from your imagination. So keep in mind, from imagination and from a beginner, someone who's been painting less than a year. So very lovely and creative. This one, Kinga. You just keep the nook. I believe I'm saying your name, right sweetheart. You are, you get a gold star for such perseverance. I just love how you post so many paintings. You are painting so much, and that's why your work keeps getting better. And I liked this beautiful blue moody scene, and it just had a beautiful nocturne feel to it. Again, amazing work for a beginner. I think you were a beginner when you painted this. I'm not sure if you're a beginner now, but beautiful beginner work. And this last one here is the one that I'm choosing for the beginner category winner. This is by Ronetta Chirruda, and Ronetta has been posting in our group for a little while too, and beautiful work. What I particularly loved about this, of course, that energy is just gorgeous. But what's been accomplished here is not really easy. That combination of blending, notice it's got blending and it's got some crispness to it. And it all seems to flow for just such an interesting composition. It just keeps your eye moving around. I first saw this one as a thumbnail and I loved it, but I really was drawn to it when I saw it on a bigger screen. And also, too, the reflections of what's in the sky down in little puddles of the water. Isn't that just beautiful? It's a really, really lovely composition. So, Ronetta, you are the beginner category winner, and you will be receiving a prize based on where you live. I haven't looked at where all you guys are from. People who, by the way, who are in the US, you receive your prize from the Dakota Pastel Company. If you are out of the US, it'll be from Pan Pastel Company, both amazing companies. And by the way, I do have a little bit of a disappointing announcement. This month of March, the winners here will be the last month for now that will give the prize. We will still have all three category winners, but it'll be for recognition just because of what's going on in our world right now and everything. And I don't wanna put that burden on these companies to continue to do the prizes. We may pick them up again later, but I think you guys, I mean, the recognition and just entering the contest is also fun, so I hope that's not too disappointing for you guys. So, but this is, you guys, Ronetta, you will get a prize, and so will the intermediate category. And of course, you guys know that the advanced category winner is the one that gets their painting featured on our group header. Now, here's the intermediate category. Oh my goodness, look at this one by Alyssa Simone or Simone's beautiful reflections. Intermediate means you have been painting more than one year in any medium and less than five years. So this is still outstanding work for intermediate category. Beautiful work, Alyssa. I'll need to go a little faster. And this video is gonna get too long. Oh, I was just so impressed. Angelie, you, this painting and this painting, I pulled two of them out by you. I know I've been watching you through your pastel career. I think you're just now out of the beginner category. So you're in the intermediate category and producing really some beautiful work. This is just absolutely lovely. Look at that light. And again, I keep in mind the focus on the theme, the not turn theme that was just really lovely. So, Angelie, beautiful two paintings you submitted here. And this one, oh, this just took my breath away. Donna Teresa, I've admired your work in our group for a while now. And I really love this. I think you've actually won in our contest before, but I wanted to recognize this painting. Look at that moon reflection. Look at the softness of the water. That's just gorgeous. Fantastic. This one too by Kathy Pilkenten. I mean, look at the reflections of the sky in that water. And the composition is beautiful. The rendering is beautiful. Just lovely work. This next one, man, I just love this composition and I love the neutral palette. You guys know I love bold color, but this is just gorgeous. And the little bits of teal, I mean, even the signature in the teal, this is Christine O'Hare. And there's a little hint of teal right here, a little bit on the boat, the reflection, the energy. I just really love this painting, Kristen. It is beautiful. Mao, Mao May, you have been providing so many gorgeous works in our group for a while now. And I wanted to recognize this intermediate painting of yours because it's just lovely, the colors in the sky. I like the bare trees in this. It has such a moody feel to it. This next one's by Martin Freeman. Martin, you've been producing amazing work in our group too. I have so many of you that I just admire your work and Martin, you never fail to impress me with what you post. Look at those lights from the cars and from the building all reflected in this water. Oh, there's so much, your eye just comes into this painting and you just start exploring around and you follow around and continue. You keep seeing all these interesting things. I believe Martin has been a winner in our group before too. Forgive me if I'm wrong on these. I'm just kind of going for memory. We've been doing this for a long time now, guys. This next one, another one by Martin. Oh my goodness, look at this. It just comes into the painting, plays around with these lights. Look at the windows open up top here. Oh my goodness, just amazing, beautiful work. The detail on the lamps, outstanding. The next one here is Nancy Woodward. Loved the softness of the sky and the energy and the translucency of the clouds and how it just played back again in the water. Look at those little lights on the distant land back there and a distant mountain back there. Again, so much to look at, so much interest in this painting. Patrick Sullivan, did I say the name here? Nancy Woodward, yes. Patrick Sullivan, this just has a Van Gogh feel to it. I just love this. It's so interesting. Again, a great composition. Your eye just comes in and plays around. I love the sky. It pulls you back this way. Really beautiful composition and I love the color palette too. Really, really nice and moody. This one I think gets the creative, one of the creative awards because this is just so creative with this silhouette here. I have another one I wanna point out. I didn't put it in this album that I just thought was really creative but Rosa or Rose and Tizana Martinez. Beautiful and down here it says Rosita. I don't know if you could buy Rosita but this is a lovely, lovely painting. The color in the sky, how it pulls you back and what a really good rendering of a profile. Profiles are not easy by the way. Have you ever tried one? It's not easy to get it really, really well done like this. And this next one is Tony Moyd and Tony, you also should get a prize for perseverance. You just keep trying and with every painting, I just see you getting better. You're learning so much and you soak it all in. I just really am impressed with your effort and your paintings are looking beautiful. I love the color palette in this. Nice job, Tony, in the intermediate category. This one is Wendy Locken's Garden. Now Wendy is a patron of mine and I've been watching your work, girl and it is just stunning. Look at this. I think this may have been a recreation of one of my Patreon videos that I posted but I just was so impressed with the color and the energy of this. Oh, look at this water. And this last one also is from Wendy and this is the intermediate category winner and I am just loving this painting. The, you feel the swelling of the water. I mean, it's kind of a simple composition but I think you've just rendered this so well and it's just an amazing job. I mean, I know we've had so many beautiful paintings in this category and really everyone is a winner. I mean, it's just beautiful but I felt there was just something special about this painting with this water and the colors that you used and the energy in this painting. It felt so impressionistic and beautiful. So congratulations, Wendy, for the intermediate category winner and Wendy, you will be getting a prize from either Dakota Pastels or Pan Pastels depending on where you are. Again, I haven't looked at your locations yet. That was the, okay, this is the advanced category. I pulled some out. Again, another beautiful Aurora Borealis painting I mean, this is just impressive. Look at that. Amazing work, beautiful colors in the sky. I've done a similar painting years ago, not rendered nearly like this one and these are not easy to do. So beautiful job, Alyssa Simone. This one is Claire. Oh my God, let me move this over a bit. I think I'm out of it. Claire, you have Nadeau Hancock. She has been a winner in our group before and this is just absolutely beautiful. I love this lavender feel with the little bits of almost a taupe green in it and the blues and the composition is just so pleasing. Beautiful in the advanced category, so nicely done. This is another city scene. Again, very similar to Martin's with the gorgeous reflections with the little bit of wetness on the ground. Isn't that fantastic? I'm sorry if this is going on a long time but I just, I get so engrossed. And by the way, this is not something I take lightly. I really study these and pull the ones out that not that there aren't some other ones that I could have pulled out to but these are just ones that spoke to me and just something special about them. Also kind of adhering to the theme of what the monthly painting challenge was. Look at these teal turquoisey kind of lights in here. Look right in here. See that just draws your eye. You wanna, I wanna go down that street. See what's back there. Look at the shadows. Look how well rendered these shadows are here. Just outstanding, gorgeous work. This one by Margie Tucker. I really loved the glow of this water. And you know, it's like I was looking at it and I didn't really think about it. It makes you wonder what is causing that water to glow. But I don't know, but it really, it just works. It's beautiful. That kind of greenish glow, beautiful clouds. Also, whatever city is going on back there, you see all of the little lights. It's just so intriguing. Really love that nice work, Margie Tucker. And the final advanced category winner for this month is a painting by Jeremy Lee. This just has that old world, also kind of a Van Gogh feeling to it. I loved the impressionistic style of this. And I am just really impressed with the colors, color palette, the warm versus the cool. And again, I love how you guys are so good at these compositions. If you see this on a phone screen or something, you really need to blow it up and take a look at it. There's so much interest here. There's like a little dock or something that comes down into the water. I just kind of wanna explore and walk around this little city street. And then there's an exit over here, something like a long covering here and all these lights just shimmering and glowing. Then you're led up this hill to this little mountain area. There's a house here, little houses tucked in here and there. It looks like a road going up here. And another structure up here leading up to this beautiful sky that's illuminated perhaps by the moon above. So beautiful job, Jeremy. This painting will be the header image for our group header in the Monet Café Art Group for the month of April. Lovely image. We're also blessed to see all of your beautiful works. Again, you're all winners. I hate to even have to pick, but I know you guys like the challenge and you also like the challenge of just trying something different. Some of you may have never tried a night sing before and it's just really great to push yourselves in that way. So thank you to everyone who contributed. You are all winners. And I'm gonna be announcing and posting the new theme for the month of April. I hope you all will contribute, try it, whatever it is. And oh, I had one more I wanted to point out that I just thought was so interesting. Let me pull it up. Isn't this lovely? This is Gudrun, oh, another name that's hard. Gudrun Salaburger Plakob. And this is not the typical, what everybody did is a nocturne or night painting, but it had so much emotion. And I think it's just so well rendered or not emotion, a mood. I just want to know what she's thinking about and this feels very appropriate for kind of what's going on in our world today with the social distance saying how many of us might have to be away from family members, away from work, away from the things we usually do. And just that sense of perhaps melancholy, but also I choose to believe just in a place of prayer, place of peace and prayer and hopefulness because things will get better. And we have each other and we have art. So on that note, beautiful painting, Gudrun, and you guys keep up the great work and we will be getting blessed in Monet Cafe by seeing each other's work and sharing art together. Happy painting everyone.