Playing With Clay

After this weekend, it's all over, at least unofficially. And what better time than the last lazy weekend of summer to present, with a stirring if imaginary drum roll, the winner of our Summer 2008 Arts and Crafts Spectacular?

The point of our dog days exercise was to bring back a bit of that old summer camp vibe by asking readers to take modeling clay and fashion examples of abstract, realistic or straight-out arts and crafts works.

We received nearly two dozen submissions from artists ranging in age from preschool to post-career. The offerings were impressively diverse, too, and choosing a best of show was difficult. But, in the end, it was the simplicity of Emily Jurbala's happy turtle that captured our hearts and earned her the $100 prize.

Emily, 9, of Henderson, said she found out about our arts and crafts competition from her big sister, Haley, 10, and thought she'd give it a try herself. And, Emily admits, her turtle didn't actually begin its life as a turtle.

"I started to make a dinosaur," she says. "But I couldn't make the head, so I just made a turtle."

Either way, it worked out well. And hasn't serendipity always been a key ingredient of art?

Other submissions that caught our eye include:

• A pair of seriously charming monkeys created by Mollie Decker, 10, of Las Vegas.

• The face of a "Miss Miss Sunny" fashioned by Elizabeth Trombley, 76, of Overton.

• A colorful abstract by Brienne Regnault, 11, of Las Vegas (left), and a "swirling vortex of doom" from Veronica Regnault, 9, that is, Veronica explains, "like that thing you get when your Mac is stuck."

• An abstract ball holder from Jordan Wichael, 6, of Pahrump, and a trio of whimsical doves from Erin Wichael, 9.

• A model of a tennis court by Ashley Malone, 10, of Las Vegas.

• A representation of the sun and planets by Jordan Savitt, 4, of Las Vegas.

• A funny head and face by Eric Smith, 12, of Las Vegas.

• A rendition of a floral arrangement from Haley Jurbala, 10, of Henderson.

We also were charmed by the classic summer camp clay hands project submitted by Olivia Mitchell, 21/2, and her dad, Robert of Las Vegas.

Robert explains that he and Olivia mixed up five batches of homemade modeling clay, rolled the clay out, cut out various shapes with cookie cutters -- two ducks, three bears, four fish, five dogs and so on -- took pictures of each and created a book Olivia can use to practice numbers.

We had no idea our goofy little exercise could be educational, but we're flattered to think that, years from now, Olivia may look at her book and remember us.

Some of the other submissions can be viewed online at www.reviewjournal.com/clayart. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0280.