Christine Earns NWS Signature Status

A wise mentor once told me that if you paint from your heart you will not go wrong.  I've tried to heed that advice and this year it certainly paid off.

In April, 2021 I received notification that I had been granted Signature Status in the National Watercolor Society (NWS).  What an honor!  Especially since the jurors are three artists whose work I so admire and respect - Katherine Chang Liu, Dean Mitchell and John Salminen.

"Under Pressure" invited to National Watercolor Society's 2020 Centennial International Open Exhibition - Earns four awards.

Wow...2020 has been a year!  A year full of cancellations and disappointments, social isolation and much worse.  But right in the middle of all the gloom was the brightest spot in my art career.  "Under Pressure" was invited to the NWS Centennial International Open Exhibition.  I was on cloud nine when I found out my work would be included in the show.

Then just as I was beginning to settle down, there was another phone call to let me know that I would receive four awards...the Blick Art Materials Purchase Award, Savoir-Faire Fabriano Merchandise Award, Chartpak Excellence Merchandise Award and Frame Dimensions Merchandise Award.  I am always pleased when one of my paintings finds a good home and the Blick collection is definitely just that.  And the gift of all these wonderful new art supplies - I can't thank the sponsors enough for their generosity!

This year's exhibition is online only due to the pandemic, but the wonderful folks at NWS found a way to make it work.  Visit the NWS website at nationalwatercolorsociety.org  to view the show and learn more about their organization.  

Solo Exhibition at Chuck Mathena Center for the Performing Arts, Princeton, WV

Mad About Saffron

The Best Laid Plans

Here are two new paintings that are included in my exhibit at the Chuck Mathena Center in Princeton, WV.  I'm showing 27 pieces, mostly abstracts, and I've tried to make this a colorful show - a couple of examples are shown here.

The Chuck Mathena Center is a beautiful facility.  My work is on display in their Rotunda Gallery until November 11, 2019.  Hours are 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday.  Stop in and see it!

Learn more about the center at chuckmathenacenter.org

"Let's Go Down To The River And Wash Our Sins Away"

One sleepless night as I tossed and turned the phrase "Let's go down to the river and wash our sins away" kept running through my head.  I don't know where I heard it, maybe a hymn from my church-going days.  It nearly drove me crazy that night (yes, it's a short drive) so the following morning I went to the studio and painted this river rock cairn and wrote the offending phrase over and over in the background.  I am so pleased to announce that this painting has found an excellent forever home where it will be understood and appreciated.  Amen.

"Plaza Blanca"

In November 2018 my son and I went on an adventure to the desert southwest.  I have long admired the work of Georgia O'Keeffe and it was a real thrill for me to visit her home and studio in Abiquiu, NM and see the landscape that inspired so many of her paintings.  We got up before sunrise and hiked into this canyon, "the white place," one of her favorite places to hike and camp.  We were the only people there that morning.  The rock cliffs made me think of cathedral walls, but that hike was more like going to church than going to church ever was!

"Plaza Blanca" was included in the WVWS Aqueous 2019 Exhibit at the Parkersburg Art Center where it earned an Award of Excellence.

"Under Pressure"

Somehow I always come back to the cairns.  This one really captured my mood that day.  It's on exhibit at Crosscurrents 2019 at the Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling, WV through June 21 where it earned an Honorable Mention.

"A Little Off Kilter"

This is the latest in my cairn series - number eleven...I continue to find fascination with rocks and as I create my imaginary stacks, sometimes it's fun to "defy gravity"...or at least tempt it a little.