Leonardo da Vinci Award (most inventive): Awarded to Ryan Pennington for his mixed media work titled After the Storm. Ryan is the spouse of Mandy Pennington – an Instructor for the College of Health Professions, Dept. of Dental Hygiene.
Email: advantagelawn99@gmail.com
Bio: I am a landscaper of almost 30 years. I’m 52, married for 25 years to Mandy Love Pennington (instructor in Dental Hygiene at UAMS). Our son Reece is 18 and heading to ASU Jonesboro (pre-vet) in the fall. He’s awesome.
Artist Statement: Art and design have always held my interest; I have a particular affinity for mosaics in stained glass or wood. I suppose I like making things look like they fit together. As a landscaper for almost 30 years, I’ve had lots of practice making plants and rocks look like they belong. I’ll be working on more mosaics and may open a shop online or find a booth around town soon.
I named the mosaic ‘After the Storm’ for a great song by Shovels & Rope, and because I used a large oak limb that fell in the yard during a storm. I also used snow melt to thin the acrylics that I caught in a bucket from my leaky shop roof while I worked on it.