How to Go
What: 36th Annual "Watercolor Ohio" Ohio Watercolor Society
Where: Fireland Association for the Visual Arts, 39 S. Main St., Oberlin, Ohio
When: Continues through Nov. 3
More Info: (440) 774-7158, www.ohiowatercolorsociety.com
The subjects are as varied as a lounging cat, a landscape, a self portrait and even the wild west; but the positive result is the same. Six Miami Valley area artists’ watercolors have been juried into the 36th Annual “Watercolor Ohio” show in Oberlin: Misuk Goltz, Kathie George, Yuki Hall, Bonnie Kuntz, Sharon Stolzenberger, and Leonard Williams. This highly competitive show attracted 218 entries, about one-third, or 70, were chosen for the show.
“Many hours were spent deciding which paintings were to be included. Seeing so many digital images full of color, strong design and innovative thinking made this first process most difficult,” said juror Jean Grastorf, an award-winning author and watercolorist who lives in Florida. “Because of the need to limit the accepted entries, several excellent paintings could not be included.”
An excellent watercolor that was included in the exhibit was Stolzenberger’s “Secrets and Symbols.” The Dayton artist’s work that combines the elements of nature, text and collage-like imagery won one of the three Jack Richeson & Co. Inc. awards in the show. It will be included in the subsequent traveling show that will begin at the Middletown Fine Arts Center, 130 N. Verity Parkway, in January 2014. After stops in Mansfield and Van Wert, the exhibit will be north of Dayton at the Amos Library in Sidney in April.
Other artists whose works also made it into the Traveling Show were George, Goltz and Hall. George’s watercolor subject is a cat lounging on a piece of artwork in “Critic.” Goltz, who lives in Beavercreek, is presenting “Quilter,” a colorful self portrait of her sewing a quilt on her lap. Hall’s Winter Day - Detroit” caught the attention of the juror as well.
“The painting is based on one of my reference photos in Detroit over Christmas. It was very cold, and I took it from the car,” said Hall, who lives in Beavercreek. “I wanted to show the coolness by using the range of blue with just a little bit of orange or accent color.”
This is Hall’s fourth year to be represented in to the show. Kuntz, who entered “A Cowboy’s Dream,” has been juried in six times. It shows a mostly black and white image of a cowboy lassoing a wild horse, with a lot of movement and energy.
“I’ve been out west many times to Wyoming and Dude Ranches, and I was inspired by watching the cowboys interact with their horses,” said Kuntz. “It’s always an honor to be selected, because there are hundreds of entries. All of the artists are really high caliber.”
Williams, who lives in Waynesville, was juried in with “Warming Sun of Winter.” The focal point of the piece is icicles hanging off a cliff.
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