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Brooke Avery felt like she was back in college, trying to finish an art project.

The floor of her bedroom was a maze of markers, craft supplies and
pencil shavings. She worked late into the night, just as she did at
UNCG. She hasn't worked on anything like this since she graduated in
May, and it felt good.

Erica Perine may just be 12, but she's already an award-winning
artist. In 2005, she won a poster contest sponsored by the High Point
Area Arts Council, and earlier this year, she won a math logo contest,
sponsored by the N.C. Council of Teachers of Mathematics. And now she's
got another win under her belt.

Avery and Erica are winners of our annual holiday wrapping paper contest.

Our judges selected Avery's nontraditional, cool, blue and silver pattern for the adult division.

Judge Gilbert Hines, a News & Record ad designer, said Avery's
entry showed "nice skilled detail and a good knowledge of repeating
patterns."

Sally Wilson, art director for Shamrock Corporation, said Avery's
nontraditional design would also make good Hanukkah paper. Shamrock is
a local giftwrap business that caters to all occasions.

Last year's winner, Sue McBean, helped judge the contest. She picked Avery's entry for its depth of color and intense design.

Like Erica, Avery also won her share of student art contests. The
24-year-old directs more of her attention these days to ceramics and
jewelry. The contest was an opportunity to delve back into drawing.

Erica's more traditional holiday-inspired design was chosen for the
youth category. The judges liked it because it was traditional and
cheerful.

McBean liked Erica's use of bold colors, and the drawings -- though simple -- were well done.

Erica says Christmas is her favorite holiday because of the time she
spends with her family. She also likes the colors associated with
Christmas -- green and red, just like the braces currently on her teeth.

This year's contest drew more than 100 entries from Guilford County
and the surrounding area. It was the first year we established adult
and youth categories. It also generated more adult entries -- about
half of our total number of submissions. And within that category, we
received many designs from retirees, including one from Eva Thomas. The
Greensboro woman included a note with her submission. It said: "I'll
bet I'm the oldest person entering. I'm 82 years young and still love
to piddle with crafts and water color."

She's right. She was the oldest person who entered the contest. Her
watercolor design depicts what she thinks of at Christmas: holly,
snowmen, candy canes and silver bells.

Jettie York Payne's submission really impressed our judges. The
72-year-old from Asheboro created an elaborate black and white design
that showcases perfect penmanship. She wrote what the holidays meant to
her, and copied a traditional Native American Prayer. Simple ink
drawings that included candles, wreaths and presents accent the piece.

Although a judge favorite, it lacked color, which they felt was necessary for gift wrap.

We received so many good submissions this year, that our judges struggled to select an overall adult winner.

"It was very difficult to make a decision," McBean said. "The top four (adult entries) were all so beautiful."

And they couldn't settle on just one runner-up. So there were three in the adult division and two in the youth division.

Meet all of the runners-up now.

JENNIFER HUGHES, 50, ADULT RUNNER-UP

Hughes paints a lot of flowers, butterflies and bees. But at Christmas, it's all about snowmen.

"I just like snowmen," said the preschool teacher.

Her snowmen -- or women -- don't have faces. Hughes dresses them in hats and scarves in varying styles and colors.

"I kind of like the personality of how they're dressed. And sometimes I'm also not happy with the way the faces come out," she said.

Sometimes their expressions just don't match their outfits. You can't have an angry snowman wearing a cheery pink scarf.

Judge Sally Wilson said Hughes' watercolor design was skillful. She also liked how each colorful snowman was different.

Hughes likes to draw the snowmen this way, because even she doesn't know how they will evolve.

"When I start, I never know what each one is going to be wearing," she said.

STEPHEN COSTELLO, 57, ADULT RUNNER-UP

The Costellos are an artistic family.

Stephen's mother, Marie, was an artist who ran her own decorative design business. Most of her six children pursue art or music as hobbies, if not professions.

Stephen, a freelance artist, makes most of his Christmas gifts. His handmade paper ornaments are especially popular with his family of siblings, nieces and nephews.

When he set out to design his gift wrap, he considered incorporating Greensboro's historic landmarks. But the concept was too complicated for wrapping paper. He researched quilt patterns.

His entry, modeled after the "Broken Star" quilt pattern, was a hit with the judges. Judge Margaret Baxter said of the design, "tightly rendered geometric patterns make a beautiful piece."

But it was those geometric patterns that most challenged Costello. It took some time to figure out the dimensions necessary to repeat the patterns and to perfectly fit the page.

"It twisted my head for a couple of days," Costello said.

CARRIE REISER, 23, ADULT RUNNER-UP

Grimsley graduate Carrie Reiser sees art in just about everything she does.

And she tries to find lots of ways to incorporate it into her life. She even considers the plants she grows to be an art form.

Reiser, who majored in art and design at N.C. State, now juggles numerous jobs: nanny, baker, knitting instructor. Artist.

She's now preparing for an art show later this month in Chapel Hill.

Her design -- wood block print of angels on mailing paper -- intrigued the judges. The angels were whimsical, not your traditional image of an angel. Reiser carved the image without a specific idea in mind. One of the children she cares for said it looked like an angel. So Reiser added a halo.

Judge Margaret Baxter said Reiser's design was "ready to use ... can I take it home now?"

EMMANUEL JATTO, 7, YOUTH RUNNER-UP

Emmanuel's older brother, Alexander, teased him about his entry.

Emmanuel drew his Christmas trees in a unique way. They look like green triangles stacked on top of one another.

"I told him, I've never seen this kind of Christmas tree," said mom, Christiana. "But he said that's what he wants to draw."

Emmanuel said he drew them that way because he saw a Christmas tree like that once.

Alexander, 9, tried to encourage Emmanuel to make some changes. After all, Alexander won our first gift wrap contest two years ago, when he was 7.

But Emmanuel didn't take his brother's advice.

"I don't need your help. That's good for my age," he said to Alexander.

Judge Sally Wilson agreed.

"All the figures have great personality -- even the trees -- a fun design," she said.

Christiana used to like to draw, but doesn't have time for it now. Her sons say she can draw well.

"It's your turn (to enter the gift wrap contest)," Emmanuel said to his mom.

Contact Tina Firesheets at 373-3498 or tina.firesheets@news-record.com