Biology professor wins "Best in Show" award for painting at Georgia National Fair

Dr. Ellen France, a biology professor at Georgia College & State University, recently took the “Best in Show” prize in the fine arts amateur division at the Georgia National Fair.

France submitted four original watercolors. Two were given first-place awards: The Best in Show winner depicts a carousel horse with bright lights in the background, and the other shows a brown cow in a golden field.

“This was completely unexpected,” France said. “This is my third time participating in the Georgia National Fair fine art competition. You have to attend the artist reception to find out if your paintings won anything. To be honest, I was completely surprised by winning the Best in Show prize. I had no expectation of winning anything.”

This was the 34th annual Georgia National Fair in Perry. More than 487,870 people visited the fairgrounds this year. France’s paintings were among 4,742 entries for the fine arts.

To see more of her watercolors, please visit  Front Page at frontpage.gcsu.edu/node/5057 and France’s Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/ecfrance/.