By Catherine Brown
Posted on November 24, 2020

Creative inspiration can come from surprising places. Often, something we happen upon at a particular moment can generate a reaction in us and lead us down creative paths we might never have anticipated.

The three women who won awards for the Celebration of the Arts Mixed Media category have all been artistic for much of their lives. As they’ve gotten older, they have focused more time and attention on channeling inspiration into their own creative outlets.

First Place

Young Yi
Nottingham, Md.

When Young Yi was in high school, her art teacher suggested she apply to art school. “Since I was a child, I’ve liked making things with my hands,” she said.

Instead of studying art in college, however, Yi studied computers. Although she has never received formal art training, Yi, 62, has continued to make art throughout her life.

About seven years ago, Yi discovered recycled paper arts. “One day, I stopped by a boutique shop while traveling and saw some art objects that caught my attention,” she said. “I was fascinated by them.”

She was so interested in these works made out of recycled newspapers that she spent a good deal of time carefully examining and taking pictures of them. She used those photos to teach herself how to make recycled paper crafts.

The piece that won first place is one of her favorite works. “I made frames of oval shapes with old book pages and filled them with colorful magazine pieces,” Yi said. “Even though it was time-consuming work, I was happy with the result.”

This was the first time Yi had ever submitted her work to a contest, and she is delighted to have won a prize.

Yi also received Honorable Mention for another recycled paper craft item she made.

Second Place

Bevadine Zoma Terrell
Washington, D.C.

Bevadine Zoma Terrell, 69, moved to D.C. to attend Howard University and never left. “I fell in love with D.C.,” Terrell said, “because of the museums and accessibility of everything.”

Terrell has loved art for most of her life, graduating with a bachelor’s and then eventually a master’s in art from Howard.

She taught art at junior high and high schools in the District and spent several years working as an assistant principal and principal. After 38 years of working with students, she retired from full-time work.

“I vowed I would get back to my art after I retired,” Terrell said. Her mother, who is now 97, would always ask her when she planned to make art again.

Although she wanted to pursue her art again, the drive to help kids and make a difference in their lives was strong. Terrell took a job teaching art part-time at a private boys’ school, and directed a summer camp at the Langston Terrace Dwellings housing project.

During that time, with humanities grants, she helped children create documentaries about the history of the community and the older adults who still lived there.

When Terrell finally retired (again), she committed to returning to art. In 2017, a friend gave her information about an exhibit at the Maryland Art Place, which was seeking masks.

She spent months brainstorming and then created a mask in her mom’s honor. “I found I kind of liked making masks,” Terrell said.

At this point, she has created 60 masks that serve to represent special memories, events, emotions, stories and friends.

She said the work she submitted to the Beacon, “Sister Circle,” represents the symbol of divine energy, the circle of girls and women who have been with Terrell throughout her life, through thick and thin.

Terrell hopes to eventually create a coffee table book with all of her masks and the many life stories she has to share.

Third Place

Lisa Trevino
Gaithersburg, Md.

Lisa Trevino’s mother painted and drew, so art was always around the house when she was growing up. The 61-year-old hairstylist didn’t spend much time making art, however, until she was in her 30s.

“I had two children at home, and I needed to do something,” Trevino said. “When I took classes, I felt like art was what I had been missing all those years.”

While working and raising kids, Trevino slowly earned her degree in studio art, taking courses in printmaking, photography and painting. “I earned a four-year degree in 25 years,” Trevino joked.

She created the piece that earned third place, “Full Circle,” for a class assignment. She was tasked with representing the past, present and future in one work of art.

Trevino found old canvases she had painted in previous years, took them off their frames and tore them in strips. Those strips of painted canvas represented the past, utilized in a work of art created in the present.

A close look at the piece reveals the bottom right corner is slightly detached from the frame, suggesting it might become another work of art in the future.

While Trevino works full-time traveling to clients’ houses to style hair, she is starting to move forward with a career in the arts. She’s had work in online galleries as well as in Brandeis University’s arts journal, Blacklist, and at the Alleghany Arts Council in Cumberland, Md.

Honorable Mentions

Young Yi, Nottingham, Md.

Sarah Lee Province, Silver Spring, Md.

Martha Mihaly Black, Annapolis, Md.

Frances Laughlin, Dundalk, Md.

Clare Wilson, Silver Spring, Md.

Cathe Hart Kervan, Mechanicsville, Va.

Marylou Bono, Gaithersburg, Md.

Nancy Carlin, North Potomac, Md.

Jenny Harvey, Chester, Va.

Thomas Corbit, Olney, Md.