Student’s Drawing Picked for Festival

At first, Dawn Kovach feared that her drawing of butterflies fluttering above two ripe strawberries would be too feminine for the California Strawberry Festival to use on festival memorabilia.

But the festival’s seven-person executive committee selected Kovach’s drawing from 13 entries, saying the Oxnard College student’s work reflected just the sort of whimsy that organizers were seeking.

When the festival begins May 15, Kovach’s colorful pen-and-pencil design will decorate 300 T-shirts and 700 bandannas commemorating the popular festival’s 10th year.

Kovach, one of three college contestants competing against 10 commercial artists, said she was delighted that her work was chosen.

“I was very surprised,” said Kovach, who was awarded a $300 prize for her design.

The artwork originally was created as an entry in the festival’s poster competition, but instead was selected by the festival as a decoration for its souvenir T-shirts.

“A T-shirt is meant for either a man or a woman to wear and the drawing was pretty feminine,” Kovach said.

Bill Garlock, the festival’s director, said Kovach’s drawing was the first of three designs the committee will select for use at the festival. In late January, officials will announce their choice for the festival’s promotional poster as well as a design selected from elementary school students.

“Kovach’s drawing has a very festive and whimsical feel to it,” Garlock said. “It was that whimsical, magical feeling we want to focus on in the festival.” Kovach said she sought to represent the festival by creating a sense of movement with the butterflies hovering over a strawberry flower, and complemented the red hue of the berries with a pale blue and lavender sky.

Although she was a student in a commercial design class at Oxnard College, the 27-year-old student had the advantage of having worked for several T-shirt companies in California and Hawaii. The experience taught her how color separation works and what its limitations are, she said.

Kovach already holds an associate of art degree in commercial art from Pierce College, but said she returned to school during a period of unemployment to brush up on her skills.

Although she works as a saleswoman at a shop in Channel Islands Harbor’s Fishermen’s Wharf, Kovach said she would prefer to put her education to use as a graphic artist or designer, or working for a newspaper.