Madison artists superbly represented their school and community in a recent competition and exhibit in Birmingham.

From Bob Jones High School, Hannah Delp, Anne Peyton Ellis, Lorin Franklin, Lauren Handley, Chad Hasting, Allison Sloan and D. Brent Wilhide were finalists in the Biennial Southeast Regional Art Competition at Birmingham-Southern College.

With about 300 competition submissions, Handley was one of the 15 top award winners. Delp was one of 15 honorable mentions.

The inspiration for Lauren Handley’s work, “In the Deep,” was her older sister, Alexandra. Lauren focused “on the beauty of who Alexandra is as a person — beautiful, inside and out.”

Handley intended for the viewer to draw to the work’s uniqueness — spotted coffee stains, curly locks and a shadow falling on Alexandra’s face to her blouse.

“This piece expresses a glimpse of what it means to love the Lord,” Handley said. “That’s going to where you just be still and know that God is who He says He is.”

For her show entry, Delp selected one of her watercolor paintings. “Hannah’s watercolor used forced perspective of herself,” art teacher Robin Lakso said. Elizabeth Vaughn and Jennifer Norton also teach art at Bob Jones.

“I’m so thankful to have Mrs. Lakso as an art teacher. She genuinely cares about her students and is the reason why the Bob Jones art department continues to produce extremely talented artists,” Delp said.

In other art endeavors, Bob Jones students were invited to exhibit at the University of Alabama for the second consecutive year. “This show is very special,” Lakso said. Normally, UA only shows work by visiting art professors and seniors’ thesis art.

“We continue to set the standard expected for freshman coming into the UA collegiate program,” Delp said. She will enter UA this fall to study art history.

“We are very proud to be held at such high esteem from UA,” Lakso said. “It’s truly an honor to be proud of.” The Bob Jones show will be on exhibit at UA until Feb. 11.