LAST BUT NOT LEAST!

This is #3 in a series (so far there are 4).   I just received word it has been accepted into the National Watercolor Society show this year!  I am very excited as this is one of my favorite shows.  Last year I didn't make the cut.  There are never any guarantees with so many excellent painters in the country.  Plus, every judge has their own ideas and opinions.  This show has 3 judges.  Does that make it easier or harder to get in?   I had to order another giant packing box from AirFloat to ship it.  Definitely the down side to painting so big (40 x 40 framed!) I need another house just to store this stuff.  Too bad no one has invented an inflateable carton that is puncture proof, sort of a blow up bubble wrap thing.   I now have two boxes for this size painting, so I might as well keep making big, scary faces!

Tomorrow is the opening reception and awards ceremony for the California Watercolor Society. 2 PM at the Officer's Club in the Presidio.  What a gorgeous venue!!   If you are in the area, be sure and join in the celebration.  I am looking forward to seeing the show and excited to congratulate the winners. The first of this series is in the show.  Karen Frey, who I studied with for awhile, took top honors.  Her work is stand alone fabulous.  I wanted to learn to paint like Karen.  She, wisely, just helps you paint like you!  By the time I took a workshop with her where she taught her technique, I had moved beyond wanting to imitate someone else, no matter how incredible their work was.  It must be a natural progression in artistic development...first learn how to make it look like a photograph, then how to make it look like a famous painter and finally how to make it look uniquely yours.  Some people get stuck in the early stages and never move ahead to authenticity.  Someone said you need to be your best you because everyone else is already taken!