Artists and art patrons of Sapience,

I am pleased to announce the winners of Cyrene's painting contest on the theme of Yggdrasil! All three winners will have their paintings submitted through the Crafting Guild for inclusion in Cyrene's Ty Beirdd Art Gallery. They will personally receive a credit prize as well as a physical copy of their painting. Thank you to all those who submitted, and please look out for future contests.

In first place and winning 100 credits is Shirszae Ninniaw, for "oil on canvas featuring the Alcazar and the Maw"

In second place and winning 20 credits, Aina Darke, for "a canvas painting titled 'The Unknown Multiverse'"

In third place and winning 10 credits, Sylvi Wineapple, for "a horror vacui painting of Yggdrasil on canvas"


[Detailed reproductions of three paintings follow, each labeled by artist.]
Shirszae:
oil on canvas featuring the Alcazar and the Maw.
Blues and greens dominate a painting on canvas of Sllshya's Maw and the
Alcazar.
Icy blues pervade upon much of the canvas- the pale cerulean-greys of
wintertime embattled with the deeper tones of cobalt in every nook and
cranny of the grand underwater alcove sprawling thorough the majority of
the panoramic painting. Beneath a turquoise dimness, delicate daubs of
ivory and off- white frame the polished driftwood landing and the
azure-veined marble tiles of the spacious gallery. The emerald blooms of
undulating ribbons of kelp and other luminescent algae parade along the
pale, stately walls, their immediate surrounds lit with a blur of warm
sea green. Myriad shades of braided red and lavender swell along the
perimeter of the background, where a multitude of shells and corals
couch a wall-spanning pane of sea glass overlooking the abyssal
escarpments. A tall siren stands alone, ensconced in the cold blue
clarity spilling from the huge window. With her back to the viewer, much
of her full figure is hidden behind a mass of shadowed tresses spread
like a fluttering cloak as she appears to regard the vertiginous and
whirling depths of the Maw, though the minute pinpricks of her jade eyes
linger not on the distant behemoths of ice gliding upon the vast expanse
alongside schools of fish, nor on the gargantuan mermaid sprawled
alongside the pillared approach. Reflected on the glass, her pupils
gleam with a distant viridescent lustre that seems to rest both on the
viewer and on nothing at all.


Aina:

a canvas painting titled "The Unknown Multiverse"
The eerie majesty of the World Tree predominates this canvas painting.
Broad swathes of oily filemot snake forth into myriad branches,
furcating endlessly into an iridescent void of pitch surrounding the
eerie, disquieting majesty that is the Yggdrasil. Hideous in their
exacting detail, each branch terminates in viciously taloned hands that
grope the edges of their fibrous prison, as though furiously writhing
against the limitations of their two-dimensional plane. Harsh smears of
bloody carmine pervade the umbral strata of the aforementioned void,
their sinister shapes redolent of anguished mortals with mouths agape
and sockets unblinking as they traverse the star blotted topology of the
multiverse. Abiding with sinister portent amidst the swirling ochre
boughs of the World Tree's trunk, the cracked ivory pastels of a mutated
skull dwells with jaws unhinged into a rictus grin, as the bark and leaf
of the Planar Highway bursts forth from within its aphotic depths. Upon
its tenebrous roots, a horde of humanoid creatures interrupt the
caliginosity with blots of multi-coloured hues, an eternally frozen
tribute to the paths forged by valiant pioneers through realities both
known and unknown. Close to the bottom left edge of the piece, a
surreptitious signature dwells, spelling out the words "AVD'' in
tarnished, dusky silver.


Sylvi:

a horror vacui painting of Yggdrasil on canvas
Painted on the wall is a vivid horror vacui style of mural of Yggdrasil.
This horror vacui style painting begins with a black void. Yggdrasil,
the giant tree of life, occupies the centre of the oil painting. A
spliced open dome surrounded by a brilliant membrane rests in the
treetop. The Pantheon of Gods quickly dominates the void, each easily
identifiable as they oversee their domain. Reaching from the heavens
towards the tree is one of Ugrach's gnarled hands. Past the membrane,
the sun sits high in the sky, while a crescent moon rests low on the
horizon. From east to west, the sky ranges from night to day and back to
night again while showcasing the spectrum of beautifully illustrated
weather changes. A large mountain stands in the middle, surrounded by an
ocean filled with ships, monsters, and small islands. Side by side,
poised atop the mountain, seated in the same position, sits a cheetah
and a strawberry blonde woman with a spear over her shoulder. Her
brilliant blue eyes are painted to ask if to follow the viewer around
the room. A mhun wearing a flaming hat runs swiftly past three open
graves at the mountain's base on the west side. He has a boar under one
arm and a sack of overflowing treasure in his other. On the east side, a
field of wildflowers, where a dark-haired, young woman has fallen asleep
in a black coat. A tarantula wearing a fake moustache sleeps beside her,
under the glamour of a crescent moon. A tiny jester, wielding a giant
blackjack, riding on the back of a lamb, has burst through the membrane
and now heading towards the outer region. Five seashells arranged into a
crescent moon rest at the base of the foliage, and scattered amongst the
leaves in the tree is a vast assortment of the world's finest objects
and most fascinating things. The tree's root system is made up of a
variety of joining snakes. They all have some form of fixation in their
tails or mouths or are coiled around something. Spirits, skeletons, and
mysterious things lurk in the shadows as darkness fades out the
remainder of the painting.


Penned by my hand on the 23rd of Phaestian, in the year 865 AF.