Soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait and MWR patrons from around the world participated in the annual, juried competition of two- and three-dimensional artwork.

The crafts were entered in categories for ceramics, drawings, fibers and textiles, glass, metals and jewelry, oil-base painting, water-base painting, wood, and mixed media, both two- and three-dimensional. There were separate divisions for novice and accomplished artists.

The accomplished division was for competitors who have gained skills and knowledge through formal courses leading to credit in college or art schools. Those whose skills had not been acquired in formal education competed in the novice division.

Several competitors, such as Army veteran Myrna Hawkins, said they feel like they have spent their art ‘‘careers” producing entries for the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command-sponsored event. Thirty-two contestants were returning participants and 175 entered for the first time.

First-place winners received $300, runners-up $200, and third-place finishers $100. Contestants who received honorable mentions were issued certificates of excellence.

‘‘Ceramics is a great stress reliever,” said Hawkins, whose ‘‘African Influence” placed first in the accomplished metals and jewelry category and ‘‘The Mask” earned runner-up honors in mixed media 3-D. ‘‘When you put your hand in the clay and start to work, a peace just seems to come over you. I can’t quite explain, but it’s wonderful.”

Several years ago, an Army MWR employee in the embroidery section of the arts and crafts shop at Fort Hood, Texas, urged Hawkins to enter the contest.

‘‘I really am amazed each time that I win anything, because if someone would have asked me a few years ago if would I be doing what I am right now, I would probably say ‘no,’ ” said Hawkins, 44, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who is now majoring in fine arts at the University of Mary Harden-Baylor. ‘‘If I couldn’t be creative I don’t know what I would do. Get dirty! Work in clay! It’s awesome!”

Capt. Hee Kim, a hobby origamist since elementary school who is stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., won the novice mixed media 3-D category with ‘‘Ancient Dragon.” Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative or representational forms, such as animals or flowers.

‘‘It gives me time to be creative without worrying too much about ‘what if,” Kim said. ‘‘After all, it is just a paper.”

Kim followed the original design of a piece created by renowned origamist Staoshi Kamiya.

‘‘I folded mostly based on his diagrams,” Kim explained. ‘‘Though I made modifications and airbrushed it to give its statue and sculpture-like presence.”

His wife, professional artist Anni Mirka Kim, placed second in accomplished drawing with ‘‘Spirit and Perseverance” and third in accomplished prints with ‘‘70 Percent of Grains.”

Sgt. 1st Class Melvin Avis’ woodwork ‘‘Bob Burn” topped the novice mixed media 2-D category and his ‘‘Lil Duckhunter” earned an honorable mention. Now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., Avis found time to hone his skills while at Camp Victory in Iraq.

‘‘It actually provided a little piece of home to me while I was away,” said Avis, 37, a native of Beckley, W.Va. ‘‘It is nice to sort of get away with something you like, even if it is for just a little while.”

Avis, who discovered the contest on Army Knowledge Online, had personal motivation for both of his winning woodworks. He produced ‘‘Bob Burn” for a military working dog program manager at Fort McPherson, Ga.

‘‘Bob, a military working dog, was on the initial push into Iraq,” Avis explained. ‘‘It was a somber moment when they finally had to put him to rest.”

Avis created ‘‘Lil Duckhunter” for one of his buddies.

‘‘It was his son’s first duck hunt in Arkansas and everything about the picture, from the sunrise down to the Red Ryder BB Gun, sort of drew my attention to it,” he said. ‘‘It was also the first time I had ever attempted a wood burning of a person.”

Sgt. Maj. Steve Carter, who instructed art classes for Soldiers in a tent in Iraq, placed second in the novice metals and jewelry category with a bronze statue entitled ‘‘The Guardian” while serving in the U.S. Army-Europe chaplain’s office in Heidelberg, Germany. Carter, who also makes knives, now works in the TRADOC chaplain’s office at Fort Monroe, Va.

Terry Flemings has taken classes in etching, wood shop and framing at the arts and crafts facility on Fort Hood.

‘‘I always find time to do something with art and my artwork because it mellows my mind,” said Flemings, whose ‘‘Waldo’s Porch in the Spring” placed third in novice water base painting. ‘‘I only recently, within the last two years, shared my work with the public.”

Flemings, an administrative assistant at Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center, wishes she had more free time for her art.

‘‘The more I paint, the more I realize that I truly have a gift,” she said. ‘‘I could paint all day. My goal is to reverse my life as it is right now. Instead of working eight hours a day, teaching aerobics, and then painting; I want to paint eight hours a day, continue my fitness to maintain my health, and then maybe work – if I need to.

‘‘I want to thank FMWRC for the opportunity, and for recognizing me as an artist. Getting the news [of placing in the contest] made my day.”

The contest was judged by Pam Eisenmann, a former art teacher and manager of Army Arts and Crafts programs in Europe, Korea and the continental United States, and George Goetzke, a former arts director and woodworker, who works at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

May 25 is the submission deadline for the 2008 Army Arts and Crafts Contest. Authorized MWR patrons, with the exception of employees of the Army Arts and Crafts program, are eligible to enter. All submissions must be the entrant’s original work and must be completed within 24 months of the beginning of the contest year.

For more details, write to FWRC Attn: FMWR-CR (Arts & Crafts), 4700 King Street - 4th floor, Alexandria, VA, 22302-4418 or call Linda Ezernieks at (703) 681-7754.