And the winner is...
[This prize was awarded but never delivered. I was played the fool by a huckster. Please see my post Texts, lies and the final escape: when good contests go bad from 24 February 2010 for a thorough explanation. Do yourself a favor and read the comments that follow that post for an even more thorough explanation. Do not do business with anyone affiliated with Metallo Arts, past or present.]
After sorting through the contest entries for the last 18 hours or so I have come to a decision. I'll spare you the details of my agony, but know that I agonized over this.
The winner of a $3200 gift certificate from Metallo Arts and ten hours of my design time is a woman named Lisa and her Pysanka kitchen. Pysanka is the Ukrainian folk art of painting eggs and objects with meaningful and intricate geometric designs.
I am a sucker for ethnicity of any kind and Lisa pulled out the stops in her incredibly detailed vision of a kitchen based on a Pysanka egg. Here are some excerpts:
Congratulations Lisa!