Skagit Artists

(This guest post was written by Jennifer McGill, former board member and the official poster artist for the 2021 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.)

The 2021 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is officially complete. Much like planting bulbs or planning a wedding, the beautiful event is over quickly compared to required preparation. 

Most folks are surprised to hear the art and artist selection process takes approximately three years. I submitted artwork to the festival, in early August 2018, for review. It’s a one-way ticket for your sample portfolio. No returns. Don’t call us, we’ll call you kind of thing. Fortunately, the Festival called me a month later and I was over the moon! No pun intended. I returned in October of 2018 for the adjudicated board interview where a group of 10 listened to my pitch, reviewed my original artworks, and asked questions about my career. Within two weeks I received a phone call letting me know that I was selected to be the 2021 Tulip Festival Featured Artist. 

During the next calendar year, I painted as many tulip paintings as possible in hopes that one might be the 2021 selection. Even though none of the paintings made the cut, the body of work secured my standing as the 2021 artist. I did go through the Interview process one more time in September of 2019. The Festival takes candidates seriously and needs to know their Featured Artist can be counted on to paint tulips (numero uno), make deadlines, meetings, press briefings, and events where the artist is in front of the camera and people. There’s nothing wrong with being shy, I am naturally shy but when you are called to represent it is an honor to step up and let your work shine.

In December of 2019, I developed 10 different sketch layouts for the poster artwork, which included vertical and horizontal concept layouts. The selected sketches were then further developed and narrowed down. April 7th, 2020, was the night of the Super Moon. My husband and I happened to be out for a drive, and I wanted some photo references of tulip fields. As we were leaving my in-laws house out in the valley, the moon was just beginning to rise above the fields. This night was crystal clear with a golden globe of a moon rising over the tulips. I knew as I snapped photo references it was special! The Super Moon on a Festival poster is a first. I incorporated tulips in full bloom as well as a vintage Chevy truck. My painting was completed in June of 2020. The annual Poster Unveiling happens in November (2020 for me) and is an opportunity to get folks excited about the upcoming season and a sneak peek at all the cool Festival swag!

The 2021 Festival painting is titled “Under A Tulip Moon” and represents my experience as a Mount Vernon resident, and as an artist who loves nostalgia. If you want a free gallery / museum tour, head to the Tulip Festival Office in downtown Mount Vernon where you can see several decades of original artworks by some Hall of Framers! (SWIDT)

The experience of being the Tulip Festival Poster Artist is amazing. I am so honored to be part of Festival history. I encourage all of you to follow your heart and just keep painting and creating amazing cool stuff!