Shanna TrumblyPhoto by Todd Cooper

Best Artist

1. Shanna Trumbly ShannaTrumbly.com.

2. ila rose ilaroseart.com.

3. Wayde Love Facebook.com/wayde.art.

Eugene, by actual count, has more artists per square mile than any other city in the universe. At least you’d think so from the city’s motto, “A Great Place for the Arts and Outdoors.”

So how is it that these three artists — as wonderful as they are — maintain a complete lock on the top three spots in the hearts of Eugene Weekly readers?

Last year the exact same trio won the voting, with the slight difference that ila rose won and Shanna Trumbly took second; Wayde Love has come in third both years.

All three paint lush, fantastic visions in their work. Trumbly’s acrylic paintings depict “a magical place where fawns whisper, roosters reign and the air is filled with the scent of lilies in full bloom,” her website says. Rose’s work, familiar to fans of the city’s 20×21 EUG Mural Project, incorporates science, magic and “symbols that echo throughout time and space,” according to her website.

And Love, who sees the world in pop art colors, says on his Facebook page, “My cosmic job is creating beauty and art and bringing folks together!”

Who could resist the triple charms of this group? Not EW readers, is who.