Wil's News, Part III

Today was Wil's third thing. Some of you were able to find the answer to the clues I gave in the post Wil's News, Part II. Above is the letter Wil got, inviting him and his family and friends to the official reception of the Congressional Art Competition for High School Students.

These cookies were made by Smith's Bakeries. These are the ones that the "Almost Smith's Cookies" are about (without the fancy Congressional stamp).Here is Congressman Kevin McCarthy giving an interview to one of the local television stations.

The Congressman and Wil are looking at Wil's piece he did for the competition.

He was very gracious and accommodating and posed for pictures with the students. Here are he is with Wil and Wil's art teacher, Vicki Smart.

This is Wil's art, an abstract in pencil that he inexplicably titled "Lemonade".

There was a pretty good crowd, and they listened as Congressman McCarthy gave out special awards.

This is Taylor, a friend of Wil's, receiving her special award for third place for one of her photographs. The tall guy in the back is also a friend of Wil's. His name is Zach, and he won second place for "computer art".

This is Taylor's third place photograph entry.

The following photo was not in the competition, but it is also by Taylor. You can see that she is a very talented photographer. She has not had any lessons in photography and is a real natural. I'm jealous!

So who knew that li'l Wil had such artistic talent? Well, my sisters and I knew from when Wil was very young that he had it in him. Both my sisters are very talented, the oldest musically, and the next oldest (the cheesemaker) is a proficient sketcher and painter who really needs to start painting again!!!

Anyway.... Here is something Wil did when he was about four. It's on the back of an old business card. (I think it's a dog??)

And here is something Wil did on a white board when he was about 13. It's of Chester sleeping on the sofa. I knew the picture would eventually get erased and I tried to save it with this mini-polaroid. I carry both of these pictures in my purse.

Wil didn't place in this contest. There were a lot of talented young kids there, for sure! But who knows, maybe one of these days he'll be able to sell his paintings for thousands of dollars and he can then buy his dear old parents the ranch his mom has always dreamed of!

(I think I figured out the clicking on the picture problem. You should be able to click on any of these pictures to see them enlarged.)