Highlights Newsletter September 2021

President's Palette

I can’t believe that the year is flying by so rapidly - here we are at September and it (almost) feels like a normal year since we have been so busy.

Events:

We have had Summer Workshops by April Rimpo (Aquabord) and Stacy Levy (Animals) that both held multiple sessions. (And we could have hosted more!) The fabulous online Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibit closes August 31 and we still have the beautiful, first “in-person” Signature Artist Exhibit running 'till Sept 11th at the Carroll County Arts Council in Westminster. There is also another upcoming Exhibit that has just been scheduled at the McBride Gallery in Annapolis. We have two in-person workshops coming up in October with Janet Belich on the 5th through 6th, and Keiko Tanabe from the 25th through 28th. When the “Transparent Glazing” Workshop by Janet went active online for registration at 10am, Saturday morning August 7th, all 16 slots were taken in 2 hours and 27 minutes, and within about a day we had 17 more members on the waitlist. Keiko Tanabe’s workshop “Capturing Essence with Watercolor” was just the same – all the spaces reserved in minutes, and the wait list lined up. Whew! I think we are all “chomping at the bit” to paint together once again.

It seems, with all the chaos in the world and upheaval in our lives, that being “socially distanced” and isolated for so long has taken a toll on our interactions and “social graces.” Many of our members may be hesitant about attending functions and working together again in group settings. So even in our enthusiasm and excitement about getting together, we must all be mindful to treat our fellow artists with kindness and respect, following our rules of Conduct and Etiquette. That way we are supporting one another in our growth as artists, the BWS goal. Over the past several months the Board has also been refining a Code of Conduct to bring it up to date and definitive, a difficult but necessary task.

Alphabet Soup:

It happens each year after our big Mid-Atlantic Exhibit - we get questions about the initials after the artists’ signatures on their paintings. What does all that “Alphabet Soup” mean and are there any rules as to what is allowed, or how many? And is there a specific order? So I threw out the question to several of our Board members who belong to multiple organizations and came away with some information and guidelines for new Signature Artists, Associates and visitors to our exhibits. Here goes:

1) The letter designations indicate that the artist is a Signature Member of a Watercolor Organization that requires rigorous standards to attain that rank. This means that they have been “Juried” into the organization by presenting their paintings to a group of judges who determine whether their paintings meet specific standards/criteria and thus are of an acceptable “professional artist level.” Alternately, someone whose paintings have been accepted/chosen from a group submitted for the organization’s major (State, Regional or National) exhibit 3 times are eligible for Signature Membership, as their painting has essentially been “juried.” These are the two ways to secure BWS (and many other organizations’) Signature Membership.

The top three USA Watercolor Societies – AWS (American Watercolor Society), NWS (National Watercolor Society) and TWSA (Transparent Watercolor Society of America) require at least one painting to be Juried into their prestigious national exhibits, which in turn triggers one of several scenarios, all of which involve more jurying - be it 3 total exhibit acceptances and/or an additional Jurying by a special “Jury of Selection” made up of their members. Regardless, only after applying for and being officially awarded Signature Membership in any organization is the artist permitted to use the coveted organization initials after their name.

2) Many State and local organizations only require residence in the state/region and do not require a “jurying” process. The initials of these organizations are thus not equivalent in rank to those of the “Juried Signature Artist Membership” and should not be used on paintings. The memberships can be included in resumes/biographies, however.

3) Associate memberships are not allowed to be included on paintings, but can be listed in resumes and bios. Associate memberships are very worthwhile, however, as they provide eligibility for newsletters or exhibit catalogs and also provide reduced entry fees and early admission to events (i.e. BWS and others).  Additionally, many organizations host exhibits for their Associate members (see “Upcoming Events” BWS Associate Exhibit Feb. 22 and April Rimpo's member news AWS Associate Exhibit).

4) In what order should Signature Artist initials be listed? And how many? One person I queried said “The ones I’m most proud of, for personal reasons.” Sounds good to me. Prestige wise, the order would most likely be AWS, NWS, TWSA, and then BWS (or your home org.), etc.

How many? We only allow 5 Signature Memberships to be printed beside the artists’ names in the Mid-Atlantic catalog for space reasons. Even though artists may list belonging to multiple organizations in the catalog text, they will probably not put all those initials on their paintings. If you look closely at the signatures on paintings by the major artists in the exhibits, you will see that many artists may sign only one or two of the most prestigious society initials (if they sign any) and thus let the paintings speak for themselves.

The dream of most artists is to be able to sign just “AWS” after their name. But for most of us that is just a daydream, so I will close this weighty conversation by “stealing and mangling” a corny old vaudeville joke: There’s a fellow who goes to New York City to visit an art exhibit and gets lost. Seeing a man carrying an easel and figuring he’s an artist, he asks him, “How do you get to the AWS Exhibit?” The artist smiles and says, “Paint, paint, paint.” Oh dear, I heard the groans from here. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Sherry