“It looks better than the original!” was just one of the comments we heard from our judges about Megan Acevedo’s beautiful depiction of Andrew Wyeth’s painting “Flour Mill.” Acevedo’s artistic eye and skill with a paintbrush earned her first place in this year’s Mini Masterpiece Contest. Janna Jahr of Blair, Wis., took second place with her interpretation of Edgar Degas’ “Dancer.” In third was Emily Hansen of Davenport, Iowa, who opted to paint “Yellow-Red-Blue” by Wassily Kandinsky.

 This year’s winner, Megan Acevedo of Pat’s Parlor in Baudette, Minn., has had no formal art training. In fact, she says, “I can’t paint anything bigger than at fingernail.” Still, she has been enamored of nail art ever since she got her first glimpse of it in cosmetology school. “I do a lot of nail art — especially flowers. If a client brings me a picture, I can paint it,” she says.

 It took Acevedo just 1 1/2 hours to paint the winning image using acrylic paints. It was a natural choice for her to tackle an Andrew Wyeth painting. “He’s my absolute favorite artist and he just passed away this year,” she says.

Girl Before A Mirror: NAILS 2008 Mini-Masterpiece Contest Winners

Wave of Success: NAILS 2010 Mini-Masterpiece Contest Winners

Gone Fishing: NAILS 2011 Mini-Masterpiece Contest Winners