BTDesign is proud to announce the winners of The MASTER OF 2003 Award.

Raúl Valladares Valdés Master of 2003 Best Sculptor
Eduardo Torassa Best Painter	Dubi Roman Best Photographer	Rachel Powell Best Digital Artist

The nominees were the artists who won the Golden Art Site Award and subsequently exhibited their artworks here during 2003 as Guest Artists of the Month.
A panel of judges reviewed each nominee's site and granted points for each of the following categories: artistic quality of the artworks, graphic excellence and technical quality of the website. I would like to thank the members of the international panel for their precious help:

Alyam Moser, USA
Siegfried Schreck, Germany
Nico Bastone, Italy
Valentin Yotkov, Bulgaria
Susanne Iles, Canada
Nick Chaldakov, Bulgaria
Christopher Cookson, USA
Silvestro Rugolo, Italy
Joke Mertens, The Netherlands
Heath Satow, USA
Renata Ratajczyk, Canada
Karin Kuhlmann, Germany
Ray Cologon, Australia
Ulrich Pokorra, Germany
Ludovico D'Elia, Italy
Rocío Heredia, Mexico
Derek Oakes, U.K.
Barbara Tampieri, Italy
Eve Riser-Roberts, USA
Gene Gill, USA
Michael Hudson, Australia
Karen Musick, USA
Ismo Jokiaho, Finland
Helyn Davenport, USA
Basil Filippone, USA
Colleen Deery, USA
Mark Dornblaser, USA

Award graphics by Barbara Tampieri.

Statistics for the best three places:

Master of 2003	Jury votes
1. Raúl Valladares Valdés	386
2. Dubi Roman	378
3. Eduardo Torassa	377

Best Painter	Jury votes
1. Eduardo Torassa	377
2. Vincenzo Balsamo	366
3. Apostolos Panagopoulos	360

Best Sculptor	Jury votes
1. Raúl Valladares Valdés	386
2. Robert Belgrad	355
3. Ludwig Haas	337

Best Photographer	Jury votes
1. Dubi Roman	378
2. Michael Bingley	376
3. Pietrino Di Sebastiano	370

Best Digital Artist	Jury votes
1. Rachel Powell	365
2. Parys St.Martin	359
3. Alicia de D'Angelica	323

The winners of 2000>>>
The winners of 2001>>>
The winners of 2002>>>
The winners of 2004>>>
The winners of 2005>>>

The Master of 2003 is

Raúl Valladares Valdés was born in the city of Habana, Cuba in 1960.
A self-taught artist, he has exhibited his artworks in 8 personal and more than 60 collective shows in Cuba and abroad.
He has won several prizes such as: mentions in the 5th Biennial ¨Domingo Ravenet¨ in the galery that bears the same name and in 1994 the best individual work for the best use of the natural resources; 5th Craftsmanship international fair (FIART 95); Special prize for quality and ability, with the piece named "La Daga" given by Coral Negro S.A. comercial group in the 6th International fair of Craftsmanship (FIART 97); Gold medal in the xv International Fair of Habana (FIART 97); Picasso Medal given by UNESCO world council; creator of the trophy "Grand Prix" in the Cohiba world offshore championship cup, held in Habana in 1996. Creator of the trophy "Hombre Habano del Año" founded in 1995 by the "Corporation Habanos S.A." Several pieces of his work have been sold in auctions and the collected money has been donated for the development of the Cuban public health.
Some of his works are owned by world's famous personalities, such as movie director and producer Steven Spielberg and the King of Spain Juan Carlos, among others.
It has been a pleasure to have him as Guest Artist this year and to see the jury proclaim him Master of 2003 with the highest score.
Please visit his page at BTDesign Art Gallery where you can read an interview with him by Rocío Heredia and don't forget to visit his website, where you'll find many other works.

Barbara