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December Issue 2007
South Carolina Watermedia Society Announces Winners from Annual Exhibition
The South Carolina Watermedia Society's 30th Annual Awards Exhibition was on display at the Spartanburg Art Museum from Sept. 29 through Nov. 5, 2007. The exhibition opened the new visual art facility, which is a part of the new Chapman Cultural Center in downtown Spartanburg, SC. Of the 185 entries that were submitted by society members statewide, the juror, John T. Salminen, AWS-DF, NWS, selected 70 paintings for the exhibition. Of those selected, 26% of the exhibition features work by members who have never been selected before or who just earned their Member With Excellence signature status (juried into 3 SCWS exhibitions).
The top thirty paintings received $ 9,500 in awards and will tour the state for a year. For info about the SCWS 2007 Traveling Exhibition, and tour dates and venues contact Clarissa Mendoza at the SC State Museum's Traveling Art Program, 803/898-4982 or e-mail at (clarissa.mendoza@museum.state.us.sc).
The juror, John T. Salminen, is a signature member of eleven watercolor societies including American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society and Watercolor USA Honor Society. In addition, he is a member of the AWS Dolphin Fellowship and holds Master Status in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America (formerly Midwest Watercolor Society.) He is a frequent juror, most notably for American Watercolor Society in 2000 and 2003 plus Awards Judge in 2005 and National Watercolor Society in 2003. He has won more than one hundred and fifty prizes in national and international shows, including 2005 First Place in National Watercolor and 2006 Gold Medal and 2007 Four High Winds Medals in American Watercolor Society. Battery Park II, an abstract mixed media painting, was awarded First Place in the Experimental Category of The Artist's Magazine Competition in 2000.
Salminen offered the following about the SCWS exhibit: "I think of jurying a show as a process of inclusion rather than elimination. I tried to choose works that represent watermedia in all of its creative aspects: from realism to abstraction; from traditional subjects to experiments; from paintings dependent on precise technical control to fast and loose styles; and from paintings that convey the artist's love of his or her subject matter to paintings that celebrate the expressive nature of paint." He continued, "Judging was perhaps the most difficult task. I spent as much time as possible looking at each painting. Over time and with repeated viewings, certain paintings began to draw me back. This is a subjective process and the resulting choices are an amalgam of what I'm capable of interpreting and what the artist is able to evoke. It is also a collaborative process, based on our mutual love and respect for the medium."
There is a juror's critique DVD, sponsored by the Carolina First Bank, that features a review of the top thirty paintings in the exhibition. It is an excellent visual arts educational piece and is available for purchase or loan through the society. There is also a beautiful 32-page color catalog, sponsored by QS/1.
Other major project support was contributed by the City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County Accommodations Tax Funds, Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg, Milliken Foundation, SC Arts Commission which received support for the National Endowment for the Arts, and many other businesses and individual donors.
Marcia Murray
Caroline Swanson
Daniel Cromer
Rose Metz
Award winners included: Best in Show - Husbands & Wives of Artists Award ($1,000) went to Al Beyer from Aiken, SC, for Officio; Mr. & Mrs. J. Michael Kohler Award ($700) went to Carrie Burns Brown of Greenville, SC, for Connected; SCWS Past President's Award ($600) was given to Caroline Swanson of Augusta, GA, for Loading Dock; The Artists' Guild of Spartanburg Award ($500) went to Rose Metz of Sumter, SC, for Inversion; Palmetto Bank Award ($500) went to Daniel Cromer of Spartanburg, SC, for Roussillon: Primarily; and the Spartanburg County Foundation Award ($500) was awarded to Marcia Murray of Chapin, SC, for Picturing History.
Jane Carter
The AT & T Award ($300) went to Jane Carter of Providence, NC, for Are you being served?; Mary Ellen Suitt Award ($300) went to Cecile L.K. Martin of Seneca, SC, for Blue Kimono; Steve McCrae Memorial Award ($300) was given to Mary Jane Martin of Beaufort, SC, for Unnoticed; Branch Banking & Trust Co. of SC Award ($250) went to Bruce Chandler of Charlotte, NC, for His Estate; Spartanburg Art Museum Award ($250) went to Michael Slattery of Taylors, SC, for Summer Evening: Central Park; Mr. & Mrs. Allen Armstrong Award ($200) was awarded to Jose Acabà of Honea Path, SC, for Time Out; Beaufort Art Association Award ($200) went to Judy Adamick of Ward, SC, for Chrysalis of a Fawn; Carolina Gallery Award ($200) was given to Nancy Clayton of Seneca, SC, for Backyard Workforce; City Art/Art Express Award ($200) went to Lynda English of Florence, SC, for Breaktime IV; Jack Dowis Award ($200) went to Vickie Bailey Ebbers of Hilton Head, SC, for Morgan, Blue; and the Toni M. & Sam Elkins Award ($200) went to Steve Garner of Simpsonville, SC, for Element of Chance # 4.
The Georgetown County Watercolor Society Award
($200) went to Lynn Greer of Greenville, SC, for Shining Serpent;
Lena Massara Memorial Award ($200) went to Anne Hightower-Patterson
of Columbia, SC, for Pure Joy; Palmetto Framing Supplies
Award ($200) was given to Larry Mauldin of Spartanburg, SC, for
Looking for a Ride; The Artists of Studio South Award ($200)
went to Roy Paschal of W. Columbia, SC, for Bubba Blue;
Trenholm Artist Guild & Guy Lipscomb Art Studio Award ($200)
went to Carole Knudson Tinsley of Greenville, SC, for Shelter
for the Spirits; and the Crooked Creek Art League & Mr.
& Mrs. T. Alexander Ervins III Award ($200) went to Suzanne
Zoole of Spartanburg, SC, for Hands & Leg.
The M. Graham & Co. Merchandise Award ($425) was given to
David Schuppert of Taylors, SC, for Always Faithful; Daler-Rowney
Merchandise Award ($300) went to Russell Jewell of Easley, SC,
for Venice Streetside; Winsor & Newton Merchandise
Award ($275) to Barbara Stitt of Simpsonville, SC, for Arrival;
Cheap Joe's Art Stuff Merchandise Award ($250) went to Randolph
New Armstrong of Greer, SC, for Another Blue Chair; Jack
Richeson & Co. & Golden Artist Colors Merchandise Award
($250) went to Suzann Marchin of Tega Cay, SC, for Ancient
Times; HK Holbein, Inc. Merchandise Award ($200) was given
to Patricia Kilburg of Taylors, SC, for Momentum; and the
Canson Inc. - Arches Paper Merchandise Award ($200) went to Erica
Hoyt of Columbia, SC, for Monhegan Hang Ups.
The Best in Show Award Winner, Al Beyer, commented on his work and said, "Unless checked by outside forces, I tend to live in clutter. The reaction of people to clutter varies and reflects on their ideas of organization and structure. I photographed my office for an extraneous matter and later noticed that it had nice shapes. The drawing aspect of the work was important: I used no pencil or charcoal to begin and tried to keep the work fresh."
Rose Metz said, "For my non-objective work, I'm inspired by the art of preparing to paint. I start intuitively with colors and images and the relationships between them, which I work experimentally. I add and subtract until I find a solution that I feel is right and a statement I wish to make."
Carolina Swanson said, "I paint what intrigues me. Each painting is an adventure in the exploration of the color and beauty that surrounds me."
In addition to the award winners, the following artists were juried into the exhibition. Artists are listed in alphabetical order and do not represent a specific numerical rank.
JoAnne Anderson, Trish Arnold, Alice D. Bachman, Betty J. Bee, Pollie G. Bristow, Jane Todd Butcher, Walker P. Canada, Arnold Carrouth, Mary Jane Cunningham, Sudie Payne Daves, Barbara O'Neal Davis, Proctor Davis, Toni M. Elkins, Carolyn Epperly, Isabel Forbes, Bonnie Goldberg, Harriet Goode, Donne Lynn Gore, Ann Heard, Judy Bolton Jarrett, Terry L. Laughlin, Lynda Macaluso, Barbie Mathis, Esther Melton, Sybil Mitchell, Rosemary Moore, Hal P. Moore, Joyce Netzler, John Roberts, Betty H. Robinson, Sandra W. Roper, Anna Kay Singley, Anne Rauton Smith, Liz Smith-Cox, Doris M. Sofge, Patricia M. Spear, Bonita B. Strickland, Mary Ellen Suitt, Erna Tunno, and Bill Updegraff.
The South Carolina Watermedia Society (SCWS),
the largest statewide visual arts guild, nurtures and promotes
South Carolina artists by providing exhibition opportunities and
educational programs. They also provide the public with many quality
art experiences including exhibits and art program for all ages.
The 31st South Carolina Watermedia Society Annual Exhibition
- 2008 will take place at the Franklin G. Burroughs- Simeon
B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, SC, from Oct. 25 through
Dec. 31, 2008. It will be juried by Mark Mehaffey, AWS, NWS.
For further info contact the SCWS by calling
Kim Richards at 678/721-2506, e-mail at (scws@comcast.net) or
visit (www.fineartsemporium.com).
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