2023 POSTER & T-SHIRT
Summer Solstice is proud to announce the winner of this years poster and t-shirt contest, Karen Folsom's colorful and creative "Sunchoke Succotash".
Karen said she is "thrilled to have created an illustration for the Santa Barbara Solstice Parade. To partake in the joy and exuberance that this celebration embodies is a high honor!" Karen is a Santa Barbara based illustrator and commissioned portrait artist. Her work includes several children’s books and promotional material as well as music, book and magazine illustrations and covers. She wrote and illustrated “The President’s Pet.”
Her concept and editorial work has been for clients in entertainment, hospitality, institutions, foundations and private ventures. She is a member of The Society of Illustrators Los Angeles (SILA) and The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
Her artwork is a mixed media of water color pencil/colored pencil, acrylic inks and archival markers.
There have been years when Solstice has had two t-shirt and posters - one for children and one for the overall Parade and Festival. This year the Board decided that the children's poster will be the design submitted by Judy Nilsen "Here Comes the Parade!"
Judy has her masters degree in American Folk Art and her bachelors in education, with many years of experience teaching - in schools, adult education, art workshops; and as an art director at a summer camp in Italy.
Judy has been an active member of the arts community in Santa Barbara, as a member of the Arts Advisory Committee and a member of the Board of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative (CAW), where the Solstice Workshop at 631 Garden is hosted, in addition to her many artistic endeavors. Her assemblages and paintings have been shown in both group and solo shows.
Judy says,"The cut paper technique used to create the Solstice poster is my way of creating original birthday cards and our annual Christmas cards".
