Winter 2020 — Issue 116

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

AWS receives many requests to participate in joint exhibitions nationally and internationally. The re-quests come because we are one of the oldest art organizations in America and looked upon as the highest achievement that a watercolor artist can aim for when he or she becomes an elected signa-ture member.

What would AWS receive by participating in these joint ventures? We realize that others would capitalize on AWS’s name and reputation by this association with us; their image and status (and in some cases revenue) would greatly be enhanced. Do we gain in any way by participating? It is a question that your Board of Directors has discussed. Basically the way it would operate is that we would share the hosting of the event equally with the participant. Gallery space is needed, frames and artwork will be needed all of uniform size, a framer, transportation, hanging, and a coordinator with experience in shipping and tracking. Also required would be a catalog, advertising and promotion. How are the artists to be selected? What will be the cost? Most importantly, will this interfere with our Annual International Exhibition? The Board has given this se-rious thought and felt it would lessen our Annual Exhibition; we would have little to gain and use up our resources. We feel we are truly an international organization which encompasses every-one, and we don’t wish to give the impression of selecting any one organization to be associated with. Our purpose and the core reasons why we have survived so long are to promote watercolor and education. We will continue that tradition. Sincere Regards, Antonio Masi AWS President PS: We have now been asked to participate in a watercolor convention. Stay tuned.

NEW AWS ASSOCIATES (as of November, 2019) We'd like to welcome the following new Sustaining Associate Members to the American Watercolor Society. Your support of our programs and interest in water media as an art form are greatly appreciated

Sandy Allnovk

Rick Anderson Karen Andrews

MaryLou Andrews Karen Ann

Sarah Appleton

Phillip Babb Tomas M. Bagdas

Melanie Balfour Heywood Maya Barton

Marlene Basile Nancy Topping Bazin

David Beal

Susan Beatty Jan Becker

Crystal Beshara Mickey Beutick Warren

Don Biehn

Sagnik Biswas Shirley Blackall

Sansanee Boonyad Dana Brock

Joe Burchett Diane DeShong Cannon

Yan Cao

Alex Carr Kay Cassill

Janice Castiglione Ali Cavanaugh

Irina Chagina

Kwai Ha Chan Chiu-Jhin Chen

Ginger Chen Tao Chen

Xidan Chen

Darlene Chenoweth Stanley Cheong

Joseph Cho Ivan Chow

Toni Cincotta Nancy Clelland

Lil Clindard

Kristen Clouston Ronald Colburn

Michael Compton Deborah Conn

Lucy Cookson

Elizabeth Covington Vickie Coykendall

Lise Cree Patty Cunningham

Bill Curtis Yair David

Oksana Davis

Penny Davis

Upeka Davindi De Silva

Phyllis DeBaise Stevie Denny

Deidre DeWaal Diane Doerr-Mitchell

Thomas Dorsz

Shandong Du Paul Dudek

Nancy S. Dunn Isabel Farrell

Elizabeth Fawcett Lisa Fazio

Emma Felt

Jenna Fromal Izabela Gabrielson

Igors Gaivoronskis Jean Gallagher

Kathleen Gauvin

Lisa Ghriskey Thomas Gibb

Cindy Glazier Joe Godfrey

Marina Goldberg Markaret Greene

Debby Gregory

Linda Grey Steve Griggs

Yanna Gu Jan Guarino

Kathleen Gubitosi

Judith Hallbeck Meyeraan Jessica Hancock

Tracy Hebert Brenda Heine

Bradley Hendershot

Phyllis Henson Carolyn Holdship

Mary Holland Joanne Hopper

Renden Homung Yan Ting Hou

Wun Chang Hsu

Lynn Huntington Patrizia Ingram

Mojgan Jahani Kondori Victoria Jendretzke

Laney Johnson

Rick Johnson Susan Johnson

Dori Beth Josimovich Gina Judy

Barbara Kaiser Lily Kak

Buffy Kaufman

Elizabeth Klein

Craig Alan Knox

Marianne Knox Doreen Koch Allen

David Kovaleski Betty Krause

E. Thomas Kraycirik

Linda Kujawski Yelena Lamm

JoAnn Lance Nancy Lane

Kevin Leahy Peggy Lefebvre

Barbara Lewis

QuinLin Li Xiangrong Li

Huy Lim Mel Lin

Joann Lindelof

Patricia Lowe Prudence Lucas

Pamela Lynch Susan Lyons

Lynn Maguire Tracy Male

Lavanya Malladi

Jim Maloney Angela Manning

Rusty Martin Erika McCoy

Deborah McFarlin

Cher Mcmacken Angelo Mela

Dan Mooney Arturo Morales

Joan Muggleton

Nancy Neale Martin Linda F Negro

Paulo Ossiao Neves Roderic Osgood

Howard Park Greg Paton

David Pearce

Lin-Ching Peng Anne Peterson

John Jason Phillips Jacqueline Pidgeon

Debra Piecora

Mario Pinzon Don Pirch

Steven Plount Anita Plucker

Trish Poupard Soma Pradhan

Ming Qin

Erica Qualey

Zhu Quan

Patricia Quirk Kathy Roemer

Marlene Rohal D Rose

Amy Rosenfeld

Susan Roux Crowden Satz

Mary Schumaker Gayla Seale

Lisa Sebelle Kim Shields

Mary Shira

Doug Shoemaker Stan Short

Janette Shrader Yuliya (Liliia) Shuel

Luce Sissmard

Perry Skaggs Sandra Smith

Martha Springett Anna Marie Steffenson

Nela Steric Jed Sutter

William Sutton

Marilyn Swift Arlene Tabor

Mark Taylor Antonia Tiu

Nolene Triska

Donna Twyford Jyotsna Umesh

Beth Underwood George Van Dreal

Sally Van Meter

Laura Vladutu Ann Walker

Christine Walker Matthew Wang

Zhenwei Wang Sharon Warren

Durre Waseem

Wyatt Waters Mu Wen

He WenQing Linda Whynman

Jeff Williams

Suzanna Winton Jane Wise

Joanne Wright Zhuangfang Yi

Rita Young Lin Zhou

2

Winter 2020

3

Tim adds drama to his paintings through the use of light and shadows. “Value makes drama!” he exclaims! Artist’s Network said about Tim’s work: “The NYC watercolor cityscapes show a dramatic dialogue between the

control of clear draftsmanship and the chaotic energy of watercolor. The drama is depicted by its large scale and powerful geometric compositions. Horizontals and verticals oppose each other in dynamic fashion. ‘I’m a painter of contrasts—value contrast, location contrast and di-rectional contrast,’ he says. ‘It’s all to create drama and interest—and to keep people look-ing.’” For the demonstration, his subject will be a sunny daytime scene of New York City or Prov-incetown, both favorite places for him. Step by step, he will demonstrate how he builds a wa-tercolor painting. He begins with a powerful composition. With the use of linear prospective, Tim creates a clear focal point and the illusion of depth, an important aspect in his work. He will show how he uses the method known as “grisaille” (a painting executed entirely in shades of grey) to create value contrasts. Tim explains, “It’s really a very old-fashioned method of the earliest oil paintings. After a very careful grisaille value under-painting in Payne's Grey…. the local color is then applied in glazes on top. And because all the value is already on the paper, the local color goes on quickly in transparent glazes. Then there will be lots of smear-ing, wiping, dripping and splashing of color on top the carefully done grisaille layer. “That part of the process is risky,” he admits, but “it’s much more exciting that way, don’t you think? A detailed painting is lovely up to a point. I’m taking away the hard edge, the curse of perfection, by throwing water on top and ruining what’s underneath. But of course I don’t ruin it; I create a sense of mystery and drama. And surface texture as well.” He will also show how he seals his paintings in cold wax medium as his final step and then how they are mounted on canvas or a panel. Tim’s studio is on the 11th floor of a light-filled building in Jersey City with gorgeous views of Bayonne! “Usually my routine starts the night before -- I always leave the studio with some-thing unfinished. That way I can jump right in where I left off the night before.” His favorite subjects are the streets and industrial areas of New York City and Chinatown. But lately he has added the great old wooden houses of Provincetown, Mass. He uses photo re-search as a jumping off point but does not want to duplicate the image. “What can I bring to this subject in paint that goes way beyond the photo?” Tim is the Corresponding Secretary on the Board of The American Watercolor Society. He has won numerous awards including the AWS Bronze Medal of Honor 2016 and the AWS 2017 Walser S. Greathouse Medal. Last year Tim began videoing the demonstrations with an outside grant. AWS hopes to continue this, creating a library of demonstration videos and is seeking outside contributions to fund this project. continued on next page

3

TIM SATERNOW APRIL 16, 2020, 6 pm - 8 pm

CREATING DRAMA

Winter 2020

WATERCOLOR EVENINGS APRIL 2020 BY KAREN BRUSSAT BUTLER

4

Winter 2020

For the April demonstration, artist Lynn McLain will create a watercolor using abstract real-ism, the style of his paintings in the series, Road Chatter. He begins these paintings by using abstract forms that exist in nature and our environment. Lynn will demonstrate how he uses color, texture and detail, to enhance the realistic feel of the painting. “By starting the painting in an abstract manner that eventually emerges as realism, I’m able to get a paradoxical mix-ture of spontaneity and control in my painting approach. I use lots of washes as well as a salt-and-spatter process that creates a variety of textures.” “Searching for the next painting subject is a continuous process for me. When I find a subject, I first shoot photos to capture the feeling and emotion that I first experienced with the subject. If necessary, I may do sketches and notes that reinforce my memory of my experience. I work from both my own photos and my own imagination. Whether painting the Grand Canyon or a manhole cover, the photo reference is needed in order to capture the realism.” “My goal is to portray the ordinary, even the mundane, in unusual and compelling ways. To do this, I rely on a simple approach to design and composition that can be applied to any sub-ject. The key is to zoom in, focusing on unique textures and spatial relationships --- crucial continued on next page

Tim was recently invited to the 2018 Marche d'Acqua Biennial Exhibition, Fabriano, Italy, and the 2017 The Lake-Blue Heaven: Qingdao International Spring Art Salon, in Qingdao, China, where he received the Bronze Award in Watercolor. Part of the 2018 group exhibit: The World Through Watercolor, Lake Placid Center for the Arts Gallery. Saternow is represented by the George Billis Gallery, New York City, and the Christopher Hill Gallery, Healdsburg and St. He-lena, CA, Kobalt Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Saternow received his MFA from Yale University, and his BFA from SUNY Purchase, NY. Trained as a theatre designer and as an art director in film; he received an Emmy Award Nomination for standing Individual Achievement in Art Direction, for The Piano Lesson, by Au-gust Wilson, Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS Television and received numerous awards for his theatre set & lighting design, including many Broadway and Regional Theatre credits. As a teacher, Saternow taught graduate level Theater Design and Art Direction at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, and Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. He has taught nu-merous painting, drawing, and linear perspective workshops throughout New York and across the country. Mentors: Ming Cho Lee at Yale Drama School, and Bill Vrscak, Pittsburgh, my very first wa-tercolor teacher. Paul Ching-Bor, who “changed my painting technique and blew open water-color painting for me.” Favorite artists: Charlie Hunter, Vermont, Ann Packard, Provincetown, Odd Nerdrum, Norway. His website is: http://www.timsaternow.com/

LYNN McLAIN APRIL 23, 2020, 6 pm - 8 pm

CREATING ABSTRACT REALISM

5

Winter 2020

conceptual tools in developing a good painting. Where one person sees a sidewalk and curb, I see a sweep of texture and shadow. A rusted manhole cover may not scream "art" to most passersby, but it can send me scrambling for my camera and itching for my palette.” At an elevation of 8600 feet in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Northern New Mexico is where you can find Lynn’s studio that is attached to his home. His view in one direction is of trees, a large pond, part of an acequia, and the mountains and in the opposite direction, views of the Rio Pueblo River, trees and more mountains. “When I am surrounded by solitude and quietness of the mountain environment, with the exception of the instrumental music in the background, I can do my best work as an artist. Also, I can find endless subject matter that appeals to me.” Tim’s studio is filled with natural light (mainly from the north) but he also uses many work lights. When asked about a typical day he said: “My routine involves walking first thing in the morning. By 8 am I am doing something in the studio. The rest of the day is varied, but it all has to do with painting.” Lynn’s love for watercolor began when he was young child and his mother provided him with lots of paper and art materials. In 1971 he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas Tech University. Lynn has had several artist friends over the years that he considers influen-tial to his growth as an artist. During his college days in Lubbock, a co-worker, Richard Fer-rier had a studio set up in his folks’ garage. After work Lynn would go over to the studio and watch him paint. Dick was a watercolorist and Lynn was fascinated. Lynn still uses the same palette (with a few exceptions) that his friend used. Another friend from his Lubbock days was Coda Stephenson. They would get together once a week to paint and still do to this day at his workshops. Betsy Dillard Stroud and Lynn began as officers in the Southwestern Watercolor Society in Dallas and then ended up both living in Phoenix, where she invited him to join a 22 x 30 critique group. It was such a great experience for him that after moving to Albuquerque he started his own group. It’s called Wet Brush Critique Group and there are 18 artists that meet once a month. Lynn has been teaching watercolor professionally since 1978. He teaches three annual work-shops, two in New Mexico at Sipapu Resort and in Taos and one in Texas at a ranch near Stephenville. Other workshops are held in New Mexico, North Carolina and Florida. McLain is a Signature Member/Dolphin Fellow in the American Watercolor Society and has won many awards in the annual exhibit: in 2015 the Bronze Medal Award, 2018 Paul B. Rem-mey Memorial Award, 2014, Louis J. Kaep Award, 2008 Winsor & Newton Award, 2002 Har-die Gramatky Memorial Award, and the 2000 The Mario Cooper & Dale Meyers Medal. He also is a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society, was past president and sig-nature member of the Southwestern Watercolor Society, past president and signature mem-ber of the New Mexico Watercolor Society, and is a member of the Taos National Society of Watercolorists. In 2015 and 2016 his work was exhibited in the Shenzhen International Wa-tercolour Biennial. His paintings are in many public collections including The Tucson Museum of Art as well as numerous private collections. In Taos, the Sage Fine Art Gallery exhibits and sells his work. He has been featured in magazine articles and his work has been included in 5 books by Betsy Dillard Stroud. Among McLain’s many favorite artists are John Singer Sargent, Albert Bierstadt and Andrew Wyeth. His website is: http://www.lynnmclain.com/pages/view/biography

6

Winter 2020

Joseph Miller in 1984 set aside a couple of shelves in his pharmacy and stocked them

with watercolor supplies and so was born, Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff and the rest is history. But there’s so much more to the initial story. Joe Miller was kind enough to share some insights, observations and anecdotes from what has become a lifelong journey as an artist and pur-veyor of artist materials.

The idea of selling art supplies in the pharmacy was based on practicality. “I wanted to buy my watercolor paper at cost and save myself some money while painting and make a small profit along the way. It wasn’t unusual then in a small town like Boone that businesses were flexible. The pharmacy offered fishing supplies and equipment so adding art supplies didn’t seem farfetched.” But where to find an art wholesaler was the problem.

Joe vividly recalls, “A friend asked me to accompany him to an art demonstration given by Don Andrews (AWS). As we walked in the door, there was a sales representative handing out samples of Rembrandt paints and I asked about purchasing supplies from their company.”

“Sure, you must have an art store,” the salesman replied. Miller answered, “No, I want to stock art supplies in our pharmacy.” Aghast the salesman quickly said, “Oh, we can’t do that. We’re a fine supplier of art mate-

rials and selling to a pharmacy just won’t work or help our reputation.” and so ended that con-versation.

That evening, Joe entered the cash bar and sitting there was the salesman waving him over. Holding up a drink, the salesman said, “This is called a margarita...pretty good too, with salt and lime on the rim of the glass. You should try one.”

Sensing an opportunity, Joe said, “I don’t care to have one myself, but I see you’re almost done with that drink. Let me buy you one.” Which led to a total of four margaritas later...and the salesman was more than happy to start up an account with Joe and the order was quickly prepared on a bar napkin.”

Joe chuckled at the telling and ArtSpeak asked about his views of the industry and how art supplies have changed or not. “Well, over the years as companies have sold out or consoli-dated, the profit lines needed to be maintained, and small changes happened either in size or quality of the art product and prices ultimately went up. That was apparent to us and ulti-mately the customer. It drove us at Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff crazy.”

He continued, “There was a time when all the good brushes were handmade in the United States; sable, badger and squirrel. That’s changed. And when the endangered regulations came into effect, you saw the advent of taklon (plastic) brushes. They proved a very durable brush that held a good point and lots of water.”

Joe offered a brush repair tip. “If your taklon like brush has a bent tip, place it in a pot of boiling water for a few moments, shake it off, shape it by applying a heavy liquid to the bris-tles (like Dawn liquid soap)...let it rest for a day or so and it will be like new.”

Surprisingly, Joe did note the cost of one particular product tends to remain the same. Over the years the price of Arches 300 lb. paper is comparable. It is still a good value.

What started out on pharmacy shelves has evolved from mail order, to an 800 dedicated phone line and now to 90% of their orders are computer driven. But it’s always a challenge given the misconceptions by customers. Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff keeps a log of humorous phone anecdotes (gender and names deleted). Laughing, Joe shared two of his favorite ex-periences. “I was completing an order with a customer and asked for their credit card number. There was a long pause on the line, and then, “Why? Don’t you take cash over the phone?”

Another time, Joe was called over by one of his employees with a worried look and said,

ArtSpeak by Robert Fionda

“Lures and Brushes”

7

Winter 2020

“Joe, you really need to talk to this person.” Taking the phone, he introduced himself and heard, “Why you’re nothing but a cheat and crook!” Stunned, I said, “Whoa! And asked what the problem was.” The irate customer explained, “I ordered 300 lbs. of watercolor paper and when it arrived, I weighed it. The paper only came to 5 lbs. You owe me 250 lbs. of paper!” ArtSpeak isn’t sure how Joe handled the explanation.

ArtSpeak asked, “So what supplies do artists order the most of?” Joe didn’t hesitate. “Color, artists love their colors; especially the new ones.

He noted that Daniel Smith Inks over the years had done a wonderful job of providing new or innovative pigments. But Miller was just as proud of their brand called, American Journey.

Joe added, “Artists carry way too many color choices on their palette; especially novices. We just completed a workshop with John Lovett. His palette was composed only of quinacri-done gold, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue. Using just those three pigments, Lovett produced wonderful color groups, including black and various greens. It’s just easier to learn with just a few colors.”

ArtSpeak asked what Joe’s most proud of...the heartwarming answer was philanthropy. Their company has supported a variety of causes but the one that is nearest to his heart is “Brushes for Vincent.” This program donates art supplies to hospitals and burn centers that treat seriously ill children. The American Watercolor Society awarded Joseph Miller in 2006 with the Dolphin Award in recognition of his efforts in promoting watercolor and charitable ser-vices.

Finally, we asked if On-line or Mail Order would ultimately put “box stores” selling art sup-plies out of business. Joe seemed doubtful and the reason was quite sound, “Artists are tactile people. They like to hold a brush, play with it. It’s just our nature.” But Joe sagely added, “It still comes down to the needs of the customer. Service is so important to either a brick & mortar store or mail order. Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, besides offering an extensive catalog of artist materi-als, stresses fast and personable service.” And ArtSpeak definitely agrees.Questions or re-sponses to this article can be made to: robtart@juno.com

ABOUT THOSE ENTRIES

Once again, for AWS’s 153rd

Annual Exhibition, artists submitted well over 1,000 paintings for our Jury of Selection to review. It is always interesting to see who is submitting each year and where they are from. This year 56% of the entries came from AWS As-sociate Members, 20% from AWS Signature Members and 24% from non-members. The exhibition is truly international in nature with entries coming from more than 30 countries in addition to the United States. Those represented were Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Bul-garia, Canada, China, El Salvador, France, Ger-many, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Iran, Israel, It-aly, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzer-land, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Republic, United Kingdom and the US Virgin Islands.

8

Winter 2020

Salvatore Casa, AWS, D.F., passed away in Chico, CA, on December 4, 2019 at the age of 91. To say he loved art would be to diminish art’s influence on Salvatore. Art was part of

him, a way of being that informed every-thing he would become and every choice he would make. He loved other things – baseball, bullfights, opera – that shared an aesthetic, a symmetry and pageantry dis-rupted by drama that carried through to his approach to the canvas.

Sal was born at Bellevue Hospital in New York City on Dec. 20, 1927 and grew up among an extended and somewhat in-congruent Italian family that encompassed his father’s Sicilian background and his mother’s northern Emilia-Romagna roots.

He served two brief stints in the U.S. military – first as a soldier and then as a Marine stationed in Japan, where he worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the base newspaper. In between, he stud-ied at the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts in New York before moving to Washington, DC, to apprentice under the painter Henry Papaso. There, he met and married Lorna Jane Goltl, a

young Valparaiso College grad from Kansas. His paintings were exhibited nationwide,

including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, Instituto Allende, Sacra-mento’s Crocker Art Museum, the National and American Watercolor Society annuals, New York’s Academy of Design, the Spring-field [Missouri] Art Museum, the Butler Insti-tute of American Art and many more.

Even after retiring from Chico State Uni-versity, Sal never relinquished his role as teacher or painter. Back in a second floor walk-up, this time a studio on Third Street overlooking downtown Chico, he continued to paint, to search, to learn. He surrounded him-self with friends who loved him, including many students at Chico Art Center, where he taught until September 2019, just two months before he died. In 2014, he recounted to the Chico Enterprise-Record what he told his stu-dents: “To draw, you need to destroy, mean-ing you must challenge yourself to let go of what you know and risk moving forward.”

Sal became a Signature Member of AWS in 1994 and later became a Dolphin Fel-low. He was awarded the AWS Gold Medal of honor in 1988 for his work, “Studio Wall.”

He was preceded in death by his parents and son, Matt. He leaves behind his daugh-ter, Kate, of Vermont; his son, Stephen, of Los Angeles; three grandchildren, Robert MacIntosh of Kansas; Samia Abbass of Ver-mont; and Amal Abbass of New York City, and his former wife, Jane, of Chico.

Aline F. Chow, the watercolor artist affectionately known as Mei Ki Kam, of Honolulu, Ha-waii, and Queens, NY passed away peacefully in Honolulu on November 10, 2019 at age 81,

surrounded by family. Mei Ki Kam became a Signature Member

of the American Watercolor Society in 1997. She is survived by her sons Dominic and Vanki.

Robert DeVoe, passed away October 30, 2018 at the age of 84. With his death, Southern Oregon lost a truly humane man, an exquisite artist, and a loving husband, fa-

IN MEMORIAM

We are saddened by the loss of these Signature Members, whose great talents added to the long history of the American Watercolor Society.

Salvatore Casa Aline F. Chow Robert DeVoe Nita Engle Edwin John Havas Ray Hendershot Joanna Mersereau Barbara Grace Millican Herbert G. Morris Carol Marie Orr Pat San Soucie Harold “Hal” Scroggy Michael J. Weber Elaine Magnuson Wentworth Hugh Oliver Williams Frederick Wong

9

Winter 2020

ther, and grandfather. Bob was born in Can-yonville, Oregon, in the depths of the Depres-sion, to parents Perry Jean and Clarice Azalea (Totten) DeVoe. He lived in Days Creek as a child. The family relocated to Med-ford, and he was educated in Medford schools, graduating from Medford High School in 195l. In 1953 he entered the U. S. Air Force and served until 1957, becoming a Staff Sergeant. He became fluent in Russian language while studying at the Defense Lan-guage Institute, in Monterey, California.

Bob was artistic from an early age. During his youth he was one of two Medford students chosen to attend a prestigious summer pro-gram for young Oregon artists. He had hopes of a scholarship in art to Southern Oregon College, but when one failed to materialize, he became an English major. Following his graduation from SOC he earned a Masters Degree in English from the University of Cali-fornia, Berkeley. He then entered a PhD pro-gram in English at the University of Oregon but did not complete a degree there.

Bob was encouraged to apply for a posi-tion in English, and in 1964 he began what proved to be a twenty year career at SOC as a professor, teaching writing, world literature, and 18th Century British prose and poetry. Early in his career he taught courses for Pro-ject Prometheus, an experimental living and learning program for exceptionally able stu-dents. Bob also served the Department of English as Coordinator of Writing for several years. Colleagues charged with evaluating Bob's teaching praised him as a teacher of exceptional ability and dedication. Bob greatly enjoyed his first career as a teacher, but by the early 1980s he was ready to begin a sec-ond career, this time as an artist.

Bob exhibited with AWS during the 1980s and was awarded Signature Membership in 1984. He is most noted for his extraordinary, light-filled, still-life paintings. Those knowl-edgeable about art believe Bob belongs among the best American Masters painting in the genre of Realism.

Nita Joy Engle,

AWS, L.M. passed away peacefully on August 29,

2019, in Ishpeming, MI at the age of 93. She studied at Northern Michigan Univer-

sity and attended the School of the Art Insti-tute of Chicago for four years, during which time she studied at Roosevelt University.

She was employed at a Chicago advertis-ing agency as an art director. She then ob-tained full-time positions working for New York and Chicago publications, ranging from Reader's Digest to Playboy. In the 1940s the art world was a male-dominated field, so early in her career she signed her work "N. Engle" so that she did not disclose her gender.

Nita became a Signature Member of AWS in 1969 and exhibited frequently with us. Her works were exhibited at the "1976 - 200 Years of American Illustration" - along with Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and Winslow Homer - and other Society of Illustrators exhibitions in New York. She participated in the annual Great Women Artists of America Show and in "International Waters," a show of works of art-ists from the United States and Great Britain; she was one of 20 American artists to partici-pate.

Engle returned to Marquette, Michigan and set up a studio overlooking Lake Supe-rior. She gave workshops in the United States, Asia, Africa and Tahiti, which were in-spirations from some of her wilderness and nature paintings. She had a unique way of making her paintings by "throwing, squirting, pouring and spraying" paint onto the paper.

Wilderness Palette - Nita Engle in Michi-gan, a PBS documentary film of her work, was made in 1985. She has said, "There is so little wilderness left; we are surrounded by pave-ment. My goal is to take you into the land-scape through my painting."

Edwin John Havas, 89, of Sun City Center, Fla., be-loved husband for 62 years of Judith (Moyles) Havas, died peacefully at home February 3, 2019, after a long coura-geous battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Professor of art emeritus at Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., for 21 years, Ed began his teaching career at Seton Hall

continued on next page

10

Winter 2020

Prep School in 1960, where he remained for 15 years. He became a Signature Member of AWS in 1981. Ed was a member and past president of the N.J. Watercolor Society. He was awarded the Grand Prix for Aquarelle in an international juried exhibition in Monaco; as well, he received the Silver Medal and Best in Show Awards from the New Jersey Watercolor Society.

In addition to Judy, Ed is survived by his children, Betsy Davenport, Michael Ha-vas (Debbie), Mary-Claire Lynas (Norman), Jennifer Feldmann (Jeffrey), Joseph Havas (Karen), numerous grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Ray Hendershot of

Pennsburg, PA, passed away on June 19, 2019, at age 88. He was born on May 26, 1931 in Bangor, PA to the late Ray-mond and Dorothy (Miller) Hendershot. After graduating high school in 1949, he went to work and became senior principal scientist at Ameri-can Olean Tile Company, Lansdale, PA, from 1963-1992. He retired early to pursue his passion as a fine artist.

Among his varied interests, he loved trains, gardening, music, woodworking, col-lecting antiques, as well as a fan of the Ea-gles, Flyers and Yankees.

As an award-winning artist, he held a Signature Membership in the American Wa-tercolor Society, National Watercolor Soci-ety, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Phila-delphia Water Color Society and the Interna-tional Society of Acrylic Painters. Ray also served his Country proudly in the United States Army during the Korean War.

Surviving are his sons Bradley Hender-shot, husband of Katharine Krieg, and Doug Hendershot, grandson Jon and his wife Kris-ten and great-grandson, Damien Frombach.

Joanna Mersereau passed away in Redlands, CA, on December 13, 2017. She was born July 12, 1928 in Strawn, IL and moved to Redlands in 1955. Joanna

saw colors, shapes and beauty in nature and people, which was reflected in her art of many forms, including lapidary, sculpting, drawing and painting. She was a founding signature member of Watercolor West. She studied with Milford Zornes, and was influ-enced by the styles of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Diego Rivera and Millard Sheets. She was active with the Riverside Art Mu-seum, Riverside Community Arts Associa-tion and Redlands Art Association, and the Inland Empire Museum of Art in Upland. In 2007, Joanna became a full signature mem-ber of American Watercolor Society. She was featured on the cover of The Pen Women Magazine and earned First Place in the State National League of American Pen Women Art Show.

Barbara Grace Millican, born February 17, 1929 in Fort Worth, TX to David and Bird Straiton, passed away April 2, 2019. Barbara re-ceived a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas. After receiving her degree, she worked in advertising art as well as oil company and engineering draft-ing. She returned to Texas Women's Univer-sity where she received a Master of Arts de-gree. Barbara attended the Rocky Moun-tain National show, receiving the Sybil Mo-schetti Award, the National Watercolor Soci-ety show receiving the Toshiko Ukon Award and was selected to be in the traveling show throughout the USA. She was a signature member in both organizations as well as in the American Watercolor Society, Texas Watercolor Society and others. Barbara was also selected for the SWA 2013 Interna-tional Exhibition now hanging in Fort Worth.

Her work has been featured in the Watercolor Artist Magazine, the International Artist and in several of the Betty Lou Schlemm “Best of” books as well as “Journeys to Abstraction.”

continued on next page

11

Winter 2020

Herbert G. Morris, Honorary Vice President of the AWS, passed away peacefully on Octo-ber 10, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia. Herbert’s teaching career began in Tampa, Florida, where he was

born and expanded to New York, where he earned his Master’s Degree from Columbia University. After 32 years of teaching sculp-ture, pottery, art, journalism, English and Di-rector of Art for the College of New Rochelle, Herbert retired.

In 1998, he began sitting the annual AWS exhibit until 2004. It was his smiling face that greeted and charmed artists and visitors. It was his creative interests and vision that transformed the organization. In 2004, he was asked to serve as Executive Director of the AWS until 2008 when he moved to Up-state New York with his lifetime partner.

Herbert was the consummate Renais-sance man. He spoke five languages, loved crossword puzzles, was a collector of rare cookbooks, an exceptional chef, loved to en-tertain, travel and genuinely loved people. He had the audacity and courage to be who he was – genuine with no apologies. He was a gift to those who were fortunate enough to know him. He will be sorely missed.

Carol Marie Orr passed

away peacefully on Tuesday, February 13th, 2018, in Chan-dler, Arizona.

Carol was born to Dorothy and Peter M. Schaack of Chi-cago, Illinois, in 1934. She graduated from Fort Dearborn High School and the Chicago Institute of Art in Chicago, Illinois. She mar-ried Charles E. Larsen in 1954 and they to-gether brought two sons, David and Daniel, into the world.

Carol and Charles were divorced in 1969 and she later married James B. Orr, taking the name Carol M. Orr for the remainder of her life.

Her great passion in life was painting, es-pecially watercolor art. Carol actively created art all of her adult life, taught workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada, juried art shows, and won countless awards. She be-

came a Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society in 1995 and was also a member of the National Watercolor Society, Arizona Watercolor Association and North-west Watercolor Society.

Carol was active with a local East Valley watercolor art group until her final days.

Pat San Soucie, born in

1931 in Minneapolis, received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts from the University of Wis-consin. She was an art instruc-tor, workshop teacher and past president of the New Jersey Watercolor Soci-ety. Pat was a member of Watercolor USA Honor Society, National Watercolor Society, New Jersey Watercolor Society, National As-sociation of Women Artists, Garden State Wa-tercolor Society, Georgia Watercolor Society, Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in American Women, and New Jersey Center for Visual Arts. Her work was shown in the Springfield Art Museum, MO; Casio, Inc. Headquarters, NJ; Corporate Offices in New York, St. Louis, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, Connecticut, England, France and Wales and private collections, and publicized in Water-media Techniques for Releasing the Creative Spirit, Splash 1, Splash 2 and The Artist’s Magazine. She won various awards through-out her years as an exemplary artist.

Pat had 3 children, Marc David, Mary Frances and Richard Peter.

Harold “Hal” Scroggy of

Akron, Ohio, passed away peacefully September 21, 2018. Born February 5, 1921 in Akron, he was an award-winning watercolor artist. His work was exhibited nationwide in galleries and shows, and featured in books and advertising.

Hal was discovered by artist Roy Wilhelm while still in grade school. He studied with Wilhelm, who helped Hal get accepted to Cleveland Institute of Art.

When Hal retired, he began serious im-pressionistic watercolor painting. His philoso-phy was "I paint adjectives rather than nouns."

continued on next page

12

Winter 2020

He regularly traveled to naturalistic locations in the U.S. and abroad for subject matter, and developed a widely respected, immedi-ately recognizable art style. He is a founding member of Ohio Watercolor Society, and be-came a Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society in 1999. He also was an early member of Whiskey Painters of Amer-ica. In 2018, he received the J. Brower Life-time Achievement Award.

Hal is survived by sons, David M. Scroggy (Rosemary) of Portland, Oregon and James H. Scroggy of Akron, Ohio. He was preceded in death by wife, Helen Eileen Scroggy.

Michael J. Weber, after graduating from

high school in North Tonawanda, NY and military service in the U.S. Navy, Michael en-tered Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Fl. He transferred to the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota a year later and upon gradu-ating, was recruited to his first job with Hall-mark cards in Kansas City, Missouri. He met and married Carol there and two years they left the Midwest so Michael could work in ad-vertising in New York City. Five years later Michael decided to make painting his full time career by doing outdoor art shows and since 1973 he supported them working only as a watercolorist. Landscape was his main sub-ject matter and gradually still life became his major focus. The idea of working with con-trast in his work became important and a great inspiration for him was their collection of antiques. He turned toward the play of light against dark, warm against cool color and hard against soft edges. His technique was based on a lot of “dry brush” work and glazes. Because he didn’t create a soggy surface by flooding the paper with water his paints were not overly diluted and the colors remained bright and edges stayed crisp.

Elaine Magnuson Wentworth, 92, artist, author, educator, be-loved mother, grandmother and friend, passed away March 3, 2017. After graduating high school in 1942 in Denver, Colorado during

World War II, Elaine worked as teletype ra-dio-phone operator for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Ketchikan, Alaska.

Elaine studied with figurative expres-sionist Ture Bengtz at the Boston Museum School of Fine Art, graduating in 1950. She worked in fashion illustration for Boston pub-lications and painted landscapes on week-ends. Boston artist, Murray Jackson Wen-tworth, AWS, D.F. (1927-2008) captured her heart and together they forged a shared pro-fessional life of painting, exhibiting and teaching. Elaine became an AWS Signature Member in 1981.

She taught at the Art Institute of Boston and art associations throughout the country. She is remembered fondly by students who became lifelong friends. She was president of the National League of American Pen Women - honored by Rosalyn Carter with tea parties at the White House.

Elaine remained involved with the Feni-more Art Museum and Cooperstown Art As-sociation. She was preceded on Oct. 10, 2016 by her companion, artist Niels Michael-sen, Oneonta. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Janet Wentworth (Norman) Erickson and grandchildren, Christina and Katherine Erickson, Delhi.

Hugh Oliver Williams, Alumni Profes-

sor Emeritus in the Department of Art, Au-burn University died at home in Auburn, Ala-bama on March 8, 2018, at the age of 89.

Born on October 24, 1928 in Centre, AL to Dr. Marvin William Williams and Mary Re-becca Carden Williams. Mr. Williams and his family moved to Auburn in 1939 where his father served on faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine. Though Mr. Williams' father was adamantly against his decision to pursue a career in art, he persisted and re-ceived a BAA from Auburn University and an MA from the Teachers College at Colum-bia University in New York City. Mr. Wil-liams served and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army.

After teaching in the public school sys-tem in Columbus, GA, he joined the faculty at Auburn University in 1957. Mr. Williams enjoyed a most successful career as both

13

Winter 2020

Ellen Smith Fagan had a one-woman show by invitation at the Gallery at Gate-way Financial Part-ners in Glastonbury, CT which

ran from August 19 to November 14, 2019.

Marilyn Liedman’s paint-ing, Nature’s Fury, was selected for the Excel-lence in Landscape Award in the Florida Watercolor Society’s 48

th Annual Ex-

hibition at the Harry P. Leu Gardens, Orlando, Florida. Marilyn also received Signature Status with the FWS.

an artist and as an inspiring and influential teacher spanning more than sixty years, thirty-five of which were served on faculty in the De-partment of Art at Auburn University. He be-came a Signature Member of AWS in 1972.

Mr. Williams was survived by his spouse of 41 years, Emerson Duhon; his sister, Fran-cis Williams Bailey Keane of Gadsden, AL; his sisters-in-law: Sharon Lemoine, Mrs. Robert A. Williams, and their families as well as his many beloved nieces and nephews, friends and colleagues.

Frederick Wong

AWS, D.F., L.M., passed away unexpectedly on June 12, 2019. Having just turned 90, he remained an active member of AWS, serving the Jury of Awards for the 152

nd Annual Exhi-

bition. For as long as anyone can remember Fred did the calligraphy each year on the AWS Signature Member membership cards.

Mr. Wong received both his B.F.A. and M.A. from the University of New Mexico on a Scholastic Magazine scholarship.

Mr. Wong taught at Pratt Institute and Hofstra University and for the last 33 years, was a watercolor instructor at The Art Stu-dents League of New York. He was the author of The Complete Calligrapher and of Oriental Watercolor Techniques: For Contemporary Painting. Mr. Wong had five one-man shows at the Mi Chou Gallery in New York City. This gallery has introduced many famous Chinese artists to the New York public, including the great master Chi Pai Shih. He also exhibited at Fairleigh Dickinson University; Lehigh Uni-versity; Kenmore Galleries, Philadelphia; the Katonah Gallery, Katonah, New York; Société Générale at the Landmark Gloucester Tower, Hong Kong; the Genkan Gallery; and the To-kyo-American Club, Japan.

His many awards included Gold Medals at the National Arts Club in 1961, and at the Li-gonier Arts Festival in 1965 and 1967; a Gold Medal in Artists in Action, Hawaii, 1960; a Bronze Medal at the Butler Institute of Ameri-can Art, 1960; and five awards from the American Watercolor Society, the most recent

NEWS OF AWS SUSTAINING ASSOCIATES

Sustaining Associate Members (SAMS) should send your news according to guidelines

on the back page to the AWS office.

being the 2013 Gold Medal of Honor be-stowed at the 146th Annual International Ex-hibition. AWS President Antonio Masi praised Wong's paintings as "adding to the fabric of watercolor by making it richer and his vision was a great inspiration to us all."

Arts Magazine noted: “What is interna-tional and timeless in landscape scenes? Well, Frederick Wong has found it in these quiet, misty scenes, suggesting at once the light and the brushwork of Gainsborough, Corot, and Monet, the philosophical over-tones of Sung scrolls and wall hangings, and the almost-but-not-quite sentimentality of Robert Frost word-pictures.”

Carol Z. Brody’s painting “Party Papers, Ribbons and Confetti VI” was awarded the Honorary Marion Andrews Award at the Audubon Artists 77th Annual Exhibition held at the Salmagundi Club, New York City, November, 2019.

14

Winter 2020

AWS SCHOLARSHIP WINNER AT ART STUDENTS LEAGUE OF NEW YORK For several years now the American Watercolor Society has funded a $1,000 scholarship for the study of Watercolor at New York’s Art Students League. This year’s winner is Chi Shing B. Leung. Benny (as he is known) told AWS: “I wanted to take a moment to extend of most sincere thanks for choosing my watercolor painting works in this year of AWS winner. You have no idea how happy I was when I received notification that I was selected as recipient of this scholarship. I want you to know that I will be using the award money for attending the watercolor class for the 145th regular session September 3, 2019 through May 24, 2020. Now, I am the watercolor painting teacher for the junior age chil-dren at one art school in Brooklyn, NY. It is so wonderful that can further my watercolor study and help my educational work. Your generous help will surely get me closer to my goal.” Our congratulations to Benny and special thanks to AWS vice president Carole McDermott, who oversees this segment of the AWS scholarship programs.

Winter 2020

15

Winter 2020

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

We’d like to thank all of you who responded so generously to our annual fundraising appeal. We know it comes at the time of year when everyone is asking for help and we are thrilled by those of you who chose to support AWS. We’d like to thank Watercolor Artist magazine for support-ing our drive with discounted annual subscriptions for those who contributed $150 or more to AWS.

Some of you made particularly generous donations this year and our special thanks go out to you. You all know who you are but we’d like others to know, too. So special big thanks go to Dan Burt Stephen and Marta Quiller Laurin McCracken Wilda Northrop Judi Betts Mark Grosserode Frank Herron John Salminen

16

Winter 2020

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS! MEET DEADLINES! MATERIAL FOR THE NEXT ISSUE MUST REACH THE EDITOR BY April 1, 2020. SIGNATURE MEMBERS SEND MATERIAL DIRECTLY TO THE EDITOR, Susannah Hart Thomer, AWS Newsletter Editor, aws_editor@yahoo.com or to 29 E. Church Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

SUSTAINING ASSOCIATES may send their material to the AWS office at info@americanwatercolorsociety.org or to 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003.

Please indicate your membership status: Signature or Sustaining Associate.

Antonio Masi

President

Jim McFarlane Janet Walsh

Presidents Emeritus

John Patt

Executive Director

Susannah Hart Thomer

Editor

Karen Butler

Robert Fionda

Contributors

All events must be dated by month and year. Events prior to December 1, 2019 will not be recorded. Editing may not include all information but is important for publishing information. News which may be printed includes: AWARDS, PUBLICATIONS, SOLO OR SMALL GROUP SHOWS, SOME INVI-TATIONALS, SERVING ON JURIES, ADDITIONS TO PERMANENT COLLECTIONS, WORKS IN PRINT, SOME UN-USUAL ART ADVENTURES. WORKSHOPS ARE NOT INCLUDED. ADMISSION OF ENTRIES TO JURIED EXHIBITIONS NOT INCLUDED. IN-CLUSION IN ART BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLICATIONS NOT USUALLY INCLUDED. We have a talented group of Signature and Associate Members and we are proud of all of you. Election to member-ship in other art groups is not published in our Newsletter, but may be put on file in the AWS office. Congratulations to all our artists and to all who have received special recognition. Articles of interest by members are considered for use and are welcome, even though a limited number may be used. Please e-mail our AWS office at info@americanwatercolorsociety.org with questions about AWS. Copyright 2020, American Watercolor Society