NOVA Open 2012 Art Competition

The NOVA Open was held this year Thursday through Sunday, August 30 through September 2.  They introduced for the first time a separate art competition that focused on individual works, as opposed to judging entire armies as a component for tournament scores.  The format for the art competition is more along the lines of events like the Golden Demon competition, held at Games Workshop Games Days, or the Crystal Brush competition held at the Adepticon convention.  As a matter of fact, NOVA Open arranged with the Crystal Brush organizers (Cool Mini or Not, also known as CMON) for the NOVA Open art competition to be a qualifier for the Crystal Brush.  That means that the winner of Best in Show wins a plane ticket (and hotel accommodations, I think) to attend Adepticon in Chicago and participate in the Crystal Brush.

I originally planned to build up to my big announcement, but I spoiled it in my blog entry yesterday, since I stumbled on the photo on the NOVA Open site.  But let's pretend that didn't happen....

The art competition had two divisions with 3 categories in each:
- Fantasy:  Single small-size mini, Single large-size mini, and Diorama
- Sci-fi:  Single small-size mini, Single large-size mini, and Diorama

Here is a link to the gallery on the NOVA Open site, showing all of the miniatures that were entered.  One nice thing that distinguishes Crystal Brush from the Golden Demon is that the Crystal Brush allows miniatures from any manufacturer, whereas Golden Demon limits the miniatures to only miniatures produced by Games Workshop.  Another notable difference is that the grand prize for the winner of the Crystal Brush is $10,000!

I entered minis in all categories but the sci-fi diorama:

Fantasy, single small-size mini:  Freebooter's Fate, Master Assassin

Fantasy, single large-size mini:  Red Box Games, Bloodmaw & Horsebane

Fantasy, diorama:  Red Box Games orc & goblin -- "Defiance!"

Sci-fi, single small-size mini:  Games Workshop Eldar Ranger

Sci-fi, single large-size mini:  Games Workshop Krootox and Kroot Rider

So I was giddy with excitement when they announced that I won the Fantasy Diorama category with "Defiance".  That earned me a sweet Grex airbrush as a prize, plus a beautiful trophy.  Really, the trophy is the most attractive and practical award I've seen for any miniatures art competition.  Granted, I've only seen the awards for less than half a dozen....

While I was already riding high on the recognition for the category-win, I can't express the honor and uplift I felt when they announced that I won Best in Show!  I am still absolutely thrilled.  I am so excited to finally attend Adepticon!  I'll have a chance to try out all of those lesser-known miniatures games that are so hard to spark local interest to play.  Some of the games are even demoed by their publishers and designers.  I may have a chance to meet some of podcasters/vidcasters that I follow, including the guys from GarageHammer, the guys from d6 Generation, and Joey of TheJoeyBerry.  And I'll be able to see some world-class miniatures close-up at the Crystal Brush and meet some of the artists in person.  What a fantastic opportunity.  I am so over the moon!