President’s Palette

It’s that time again. I must write my President’s Letter. Whatever shall I write about this month? Hmm, I know- our Mid-Atlantic Competition! This is our annual premier exhibition, this year (again) at Arts Barn and Kentlands Mansion in Gaithersburg, MD. If you’ve never been to the show, it’s a doozy! Simply the best of the best of the best in our chosen medium, watercolor. Exquisite, not to put too fine a point on it.

Okay, true confessions: I didn’t get into the Mid-Atlantic this year. Here I am, the president of Baltimore Watercolor Society, and I don’t get in? It’s not a perk for doing this demanding job? No automatic acceptance? Well, crap! (I wasn’t allowed to use that word when I was a child: guilty pleasure time.) But no, dear members, sadly, that’s not one of my privileges. Do I have any? Oh, who cares? That’s neither here nor there. What’s important is that even though my painting wasn’t accepted, the sun still rose and set, as did the moon. I had a twenty minute long pity party and realized that despite some lingering disappointment for an additional ten minutes, life does indeed go on.

There has never been an artist in the history of the world who hasn’t faced rejection - it goes with the territory. You want a gallery to love your work and maybe they do, but you’re still not a good fit for them. You’re sure that your latest masterpiece actually is one, but you can’t even get someone to hang it in the corner drugstore. The point is that judging is subjective: one man’s meat is another man’s poison. What one judge approves, another might find antithetical. What you like, I may well not. Remember that word, subjective.

There’s nothing personal about a judge’s choices. So, while rejection isn’t fun, don’t take it personally. It doesn’t mean that you’re not talented or that you didn’t work hard enough or that your work wasn’t good. Enter your painting in another competition. And win! If all else fails and you’re still upset, either build a bridge and get over it or stock up on your version of comfort food and pig out. (Pizza and Hershey’s Kisses for me.) And remember the S-word. No, not that S-word, Silly. Subjective!

To clear up a little misconception: you don’t have to paint one of the founder’s portraits to attend our 140th birthday party luncheon at Timbuktu, but it would be so fun to see what you do and to see what everyone else has done. They were some very interesting women - let’s immortalize them.

If you haven’t been to Timbuktu, you’re in for a treat - it’s perhaps my favorite restaurant in the entire world. No ‘perhaps’ about it. It’s my favorite restaurant in the entire universe! Wonderful food, special service, ample parking and we’re going to have speakers and a vegan entrée and a beef carving station and cake and, and, and. Sign up now at www.baltimorewatercolorsociety.org and don’t delay!

Most of all, dear Members, relax, paint hearty, and let’s all go to the Mid-Atlantic opening reception on November 9th at Kentlands Mansion and Art Barn - and the next weekend, let’s all celebrate being 140 years old at Timbuktu on November 16th. Two great events for our great society. Ain’t life grand?

Mid-Atlantic Award Announcements and Exhibition Notes

by Jim Sandford, Mid-Atlantic Exhibition Chair

BWS Gold Medal in Memory of David Churchill, Donated by Susan Churchill and Michael Eddy

“Red Leaves on the Rock”
Z. Feng
Watercolor
30x40”

BWS Silver Medal in Memory of Alice Webb, Donated by Glen Webb

“Farnese Beauty Pageant”
Luis Perez
Watercolor
16x30”

Bronze Medal
“Greengroconuts”
Jean K. Gill
Transparent Watercolor
30x22”

BWS Special Creativity Award
Frank Spino, “Colossal Citrus”

BWS Award for a Nontraditional Approach (“Breaking the Rules”)
Linda Slattery Sherman, “Independence Day, 1996”

BWS Award for Use of a Timely Contemporary Theme
Ruth Lefko, “At The End of My Cheese”

Baltimore Watercolor Society Historic Figure Tribute Award for Ogden Pleissner
Michael Kotarba, “Smoke Signals”

Baltimore Watercolor Society Historic Figure Tribute Award for John McGrath
Nancy M. Stark, “New York Central Lightning Stripe”

Baltimore Watercolor Society Historic Figure Tribute Award for Gordon Grant
Frank Wengen, “Going Out, Coming In”

BWS Excellence Awards
Jill Poyerd, “Chester Evening”
Pam Wenger, “Security Blanket”
Takayo Hatakeyama, “Remembrance”
Carmella Tuliszewski, “Oculus”

Lesia Bell Memorial Award Donated by Joyce Bell
Lois Wolford, “Gotta Have My Coffee”

Ginny (Virginia) Baier Memorial Award for a Watercolor Still Life or Nude, Donated by Rebecca Rothey
Mimi Hegler, “Golden Beets”

Jean Spicer Memorial Award
E. Jane Stoddard, “Alone at Longwood Gardens”

Edward Longley Memorial Award Donated by Sharon Longley
David Outhwaite, “Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, Scotland”

BWS Honorable Mention Awards
Sharon B. Fuller, “Grand Canyon Morning”
Stacey Diem, “Spain Cricket”
Nishita Jain, “Soft Light, Silent Snow”
Sandy Yagel, “See Glass”

The Baltimore Water Color Club (BWCC, the predecessor to the Baltimore Water Color Society) held its Fifth Annual Exhibition in March 1997 at the YMCA. It was the first of BWCC’s annual exhibitions to be held at the YMCA, the Fourth Annual Exhibition having been held more than a year earlier in December 1895 at the Arundel Club.

A nice review of the exhibition was published in the Baltimore Sun on March 10. The exhibition featured works by BWCC founders Swan Harvey Beacham, Gabrielle Clements, R. Elizabeth Arens, Christiana Bond, and Louisa Steuart.

Two months later the Sun published a feature about a remarkable fair staged in Charlotte, North Carolina, organized by the women of that city.

If you decided to skim this article, that’s fine, but I draw your attention to one of the closing lines of the article, repeated here…

I’m not aware of any other instances of a traveling version of a BWCC or BWS exhibition. Certainly Beacham (and several of BWCC’s founders and leaders) had deep pockets, and, clearly, strong bonds with women and women’s organizations in other cities. Still, it’s a remarkable note in the early history of the Baltimore Watercolor Society.

The 2025 Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition, a descendant of the BWCC’s annual exhibitions, will not be traveling but is open to the public through early January at the Kentlands Mansion and Arts Barn Galleries in Gaithersburg, MD. Please consult the Mid-Atlantic Web page for directions and hours.

In addition to donating towards a Mid-Atlantic award, Holbein has provided 15ml sample paint tubes as hand-outs/door prizes for BWS workshops.

Learn about the Potomac Valley Watercolorists, one of our BWS Mid-Atlantic Sponsors of Awards. Perhaps you'll want to join them. Visit www.potomacvalleywatercolorists.org for more information.