World’s Best Portraitists / 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS: PRUYS, IRWIN, MUNEKU, FAN, VON TORNADO, CADORETTE, BOLEN, WALDECK, CADORETTE, MOSCARIELLO, CONVERSE & JUNG

Thom Bierdz
6 min readNov 3, 2023

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Artists from 72 countries competed in the 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS. Twenty of the most revered galleries in the USA were sent around 2,000 online images to score in drawing, painting, sculpture, digital and photography. The 300+ winning works, 1st to 6th Place (and ties) in all 50 categories, can be seen in this series of articles.

USA’s top galleries decided winners in every medium: oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, pastel, realism, impressionism, naïve, abstract, expressionism, human figure, animal, landscape, fantasy, surrealism, pop, portrait, self-portrait, political, erotic, cubism, floral, humor, spiritual, etc..

Art collectors can see all the winning images and corresponding contact info to the best contemporary artists in the world here: https://americanartawards.com/2023-winning-artists-american-art-awards/

Winners in this category are from CANADA, ZAMBIA, USA, JAPAN & SOUTH AFRICA.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER:

Cher Pruys, ASAA SCA, IGOR, AAPL, CSAA, AMS, LMS, OSA, MAA, CFA, NOAPS, PSOA, AWA., AAOA.

“To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you the viewer …. That is the ultimate in self expression.”

Cher Pruys was born in Regina. Over the years she lived in many places including Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Fort Frances, settling into her present home in Devlin, on the banks of the Rainy River with her husband Mark, 4 dogs and 2 cats.

By age three, Cher was seldom found without a drawing tool in hand. She worked in pencil, charcoal and ink over the years, until, she picked up a paintbrush at the age of 35. Beginning with oil paints, she found her chosen mediums in acrylic, water color and gouache.

Although self taught, her dedication and talent has seen her work juried into 368 International exhibits, as well as exhibits in numerous non juried shows. She has won 452 awards for her work in the International Juried Exhibits.

Her work has graced the covers of 3 books, 33 magazines, including The Best Of Acrylic Fall 2021, cover of the May 2022 Arabella Magazine, & the latest the covers of #20 Hyperrealism Magazine with “Girls Girls Girls”, & #21 with “The Young Cowboy”. She has been featured in over 220 International publications. Cher’s works have found a permanent home in private and public collections worldwide. www.artbycher.ca

ARTISTS’ CONTACTS / SEE MORE OF THE ARTISTS’ WORKS:

1st Place CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca “Slice of Summer” 12x10” Acrylic on paper.

2nd Place — Tie LINDA IRWIN CANADA www.lindairwinartist.com “In Dreams” 11x14” Acrylic on board.

2nd Place — Tie MAKENA KENA MUNEKU ZAMBIA kenamuneku@gmail.com “The Recovery” 22x30” Eggshells, concealer and paint.

3rd Place — Tie QIONGLIN (JUDY) FAN USA www.judyfan.com “Roberta In Hat” 12x12” Oil on canvas.

3rd Place — Tie CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca “Saturday!” 9x9” Acrylic on paper.

3rd Place — Tie KRYS VON TORNADO USA http://www.krysvontornado.com “Smile You’re On Camera” 20x16” Acrylic.

4th Place — Tie MERANA CADORETTE USA https://merana-cadorette.pixels.com “Safe Harbor Blessing” 22x28” Acrylic, canvas.

4th Place — Tie TERESA BOLEN JAPAN https://teresabolen.com “The Shakuhachi Maker Performs” 20x13" Digital painting.

5th Place — Tie CHER PRUYS CANADA www.artbycher.ca “Coolly Bemused” 9x7” Acrylic on paper.

5th Place — Tie RON WALDECK SOUTH AFRICA www.ronwaldeck.com “869 Contemplation” 60x80cm Oil on board.

5th Place — Tie MERANA CADORETTE USA https://merana-cadorette.pixels.com “Grand Hug” 14x11" Acrylic.

6th Place — Tie JAYE ALISON MOSCARIELLO USA www.jayealison.com “Hard Working Fella’” 10x8" Acrylic, casein and graphite on art board.

6th Place — Tie MARGARET (PEGGY) CONVERSE USA grammypeggyc@yahoo.com “Ode To A Dead DJ” 48x60" Oil on canvas.

6th Place — Tie HAEUN JUNG USA yuri0409@naver.com “Overtime” 20x16” Oil on canvas.

In 2023, AMERICAN ART AWARDS had submissions from these 72 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Switzerland, Tobago, Trinidad, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, USA, Viet Nam, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

USA’s 20 Best Galleries & Museums who were asked to score online art in 2023 were:

American Art Awards 20 Best Galleries & Museums for 2023, in alphabetical order:

BEST IN ARIZONA: Exposures International Gallery Of Fine Art

BEST IN CALIFORNIA: Sparks Gallery

BEST IN COLORADO: Mirada Fine Art

BEST IN FLORIDA: MAC Art Galleries

BEST IN GEORGIA: Black Art In America™ (BAIA)

BEST IN INDIANA: Gallery Forty-Two

BEST IN KANSAS: CityArts

BEST IN KENTUCKY: KMAC Contemporary Art Museum

BEST IN LOUISIANA: Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

BEST IN MAINE: Clarke Gallery

BEST IN MONTANA: Cawdrey Gallery

BEST IN NEBRASKA: Kiechel Fine Art

BEST IN NEVADA: Elena Bulatova Fine Art

BEST IN NEW MEXICO: Thornwood Gallery

BEST IN NEW YORK: Gallery 23 NY

BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Mary Martin Galleries Of Fine Art

BEST IN TEXAS: Ao5 Gallery

BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota Art Museum

BEST IN VERMONT: Helmholz Fine Art

BEST IN WYOMING: Gallery Wild

American Art Awards https://www.americanartawards.com/ annually awards 20 museums and/or galleries, who agree to score art and award nearly 300+ deserving contemporary artists from 60+ countries: painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists.

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Thom Bierdz
Thom Bierdz

Written by Thom Bierdz

One of Medium’s TOP ART CONTRIBUTORS, award-winning author, actor, film-maker, painter. 12 books: 6 on art. President of WAA & AAA & ACCA.