Solace, an oil painting by member Patti Connell, was awarded first place in MAA's Natural Landscapes judged exhibition. Artist and George Mason University art professor Chawky Frenn served as the judge.

Second place went to Jeanne Powell for her oil painting Potomac Pinnacle and Hiral Joshi's acrylic painting Fall Colors at Fall earned third.

"It was not easy to jury the show and decide on the awards," Frenn said. "For three days, I went back and forth, looking, looking again, and allowing the paintings to speak."

Frenn awarded honorable mentions to the following works:

• Glacier Lake by Jean Finkelman

• Gloucester Cove by Alden Schofield

• The Road Home by Alexandra Treadaway-Hoare

• Spring's Final Poppy by Kathy Tynan

• Blazed with Blue by Deborah Walmer

Frenn submitted the following judge's statement:

"It was an honor to see the creativity, joy and celebration of color and light in your work. I appreciate the exquisite choices you have made, both visual and technical. I could see the quiet and calm of spaces, the thundering of water, and the peaceful landscapes, not only in your subject, but also in the manner it was treated. Your compositions, brushwork, and colors were mindful and resourceful. Your visual decisions were creative, they convey and heighten the paintings’ mood and the viewers’ emotive responses.

"It was not easy to jury the show and decide on the awards. For three days, I went back and forth, looking, looking again, and allowing the paintings to speak. The visuals are strong, the styles diverse and rich, the approaches authentic.

"I narrowed down my selection to the paintings that kept stopping me time after time. The hard task of prioritizing my selection was guided by the intrinsic quality of the painting and the response it evoked in me."

See the show

Watch a recording of the awards presentation and judge's remarks