Regional Watercolor Exhibition Comes to Gaithersburg
By Marylou Bono
The City of Gaithersburg, the Kentlands Mansion and the Arts Barn are once again welcoming the Baltimore Watercolor Society’s annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibition through January 11th. When I was first asked three years ago to write about this exhibit, I saw watercolors as representations of water-related scenes—landscapes, boats at docks, serene lakes—but it is so much more, particularly in the hands of the BWS professionals. Wikipedia explains that watermedia is the general term for media that are distinguished from oil or other media by being diluted with water when used. Watermedia includes watercolors, gouache and acrylic, amongst others.
Watercolor painting allows artists to use many techniques, including wet-on-wet painting, where the paint moves freely on wet paper and the wet-on-dry technique, which is when wet paint is applied to dry paper. Many artists use a few additional effects and methods for this painting medium: the dry-brush effect, edge darkening, intentional backgrounds and flow patterns. Gouache and acrylic allow for their own organic forms based upon the paint’s characteristics. Gouache is opaque pigment ground in water and thickened with a glue-like substance and acrylic is composed of pigment, an acrylic binder and water.
2025 is BWS’s 140th anniversary. Established in 1885 as the Baltimore Watercolor Club, it is one of the oldest art groups in America. A handful of women artists, largely students at the Maryland Institute of Art, were responsible for its beginnings. By the time of the group’s 1940 exhibit, BWS had become a virtual Who’s Who of watercolor artists of both genders, including such national names as Andrew Wyeth. Founder Christiana Bond, 96 and still exhibiting at the time, commented how much “more vigorous” the art had become. Today the organization continues to thrive. With over 750 members from eight surrounding states, it is the third oldest watercolor association in the nation.
This year’s juror for the exhibition is New Jersey artist and President of the prestigious American Watercolor Society, Joel Popadics. He is an advocate of watercolor and has dedicated his career to the advancement and appreciation of the medium. His task was to select 98 paintings from the hundreds submitted and recommend the multitude of awards that the Society bestows on its artists.
Ponder the luminously radiant Yucca Flowers by N. Potomac artist Sue Moses. The blooms literally jump off the page closely resembling an oil flooded with light! “The yucca flowers grow in my own garden,” Ms. Moses commented, “and what struck me was the light coming through the beautiful white flowers, so much so that I had to paint them! I wanted a strong contrasting background to show off the flowers. I enjoyed placing some of the whites in the dark background to unite the painting.” Moses studied art through high school with the encouragement of her mother, also an artist. She taught art and started her own studio prior to being juried into BWS. “I can be very detail oriented in some of my paintings. Painting is like therapy. When my mother passed, I did a painting of her and gave it to my father who critiqued it. He had it hung across from his chair in front of the TV and talked to her every day.”
Debra Halprin is a Rockville based giclee print specialist who also has an original piece in this exhibit. “I was primarily a portrait artist but enjoyed painting anything that tickled my fancy.” Her piece Closer than the Beach is of particular local note. “My inspiration was the memories of walking around the lake at Rio Washingtonian Center when my daughter was in diapers. We would enjoy traversing the boardwalk together and Molly loved the playground…and later the carousel. I enjoy the memories this beautiful location holds.” Debra explained that when the woman who had been creating her giclee prints retired, she was unable to find another to adequately color match and create reproductions, so she decided to learn it herself. “Twenty years later, I now spend 90% of my time creating giclee prints for other artists and 10% painting. I am thrilled to be able to fill my life with beautiful artwork and help other artists create their archival reproductions.”
Potomac artist Lily Kak offers that her Crystal Lace was inspired by the play of sunshine and colorful shadows on a crystal vase that bathed the surface with a delicate lacy pattern. “My watercolors combine a controlled representational style while embracing the unexpected loose characteristics so unique to the watercolor medium,” she commented. Her long career in foreign assistance in the recently dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID) took her to multiple countries in Africa and Asia. “The vibrant and diverse cultures I experienced during those travels and the beautiful landscape of my Potomac backyard are a deep source of inspiration for my artwork.”
Montgomery Village artist Linda Slattery Sherman said that her piece Independence Day 1996 won a prize for being a totally experimental one. “Like the action painter Jackson Pollock, the painting was created by using large motions of my arm. First, I heavily wet a square sheet of 300 lb. watercolor paper, then took eye droppers full of liquid acrylic paint and flung it onto the paper causing it to bleed in all directions. My process is the antithesis of most watercolor painters who generally use a very controlled technique.” Ms. Sherman was selected for the BWS award for a Nontraditional Approach (“Breaking the Rules).”
Come and see the versatility watermedia offers these artists and the wide variety of techniques used by this diverse group. The artist reception and awards ceremony will be on November 9th from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Arts Barn’s auditorium on the second floor. The exhibition is spread equally between the Arts Barn and Kentlands Mansion just across the street from each other. Venue hours are listed below.
– Kentlands Mansion – Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
– Arts Barn – Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m.
Email [email protected] for assistance.
Crystal Lace
Closer Than the Beach
Linda Sherman
Independence Day 1996
Yucca Flowers
