How to go
What: Western Ohio Watercolor Spring Show Winners
Where: Town & Country Fine Art Gallery, 300 E. Stroop Road, Kettering
When: Continues through June 4. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays
More info: (937) 293-5381 and www.townand countryfineartcenter.com
Kettering residents Dick and Marjorie Beech have a healthy habit. They’ve been walking the corridors of Town & Country Shopping Center for the past 25 years. And when they do, they are bound to peek inside the Town & Country Fine Art Gallery. Recently Dick Beech was admiring the winners of the Western Ohio Watercolor Society Spring Show.
“We always stop in here, and I’ve invested in tons of art. We own some of Diane Coyle’s work, two of Trish McKinney’s, three of Homer Hacker’s, three Donna Brinkman’s and a couple of David Smith’s,” Beech said. “I tried watercolor myself one time many years ago when I needed a distraction from stress, but I was terrible at it. But I love to see good watercolors.”
That particular morning he was admiring the First Place watercolor winner by Rosemary Kienle, “Waiting for the Next Ride.” It shows several bikes parked on a porch, with interesting sun patterns through wooden slats on the floor. Just above that piece hangs the Best of Show winner, “Goodman Museum” by Yuki Hall.
“I love the way watercolor is spontaneous, and you don’t know what you have until you’re finished,” said Hall, a Beavercreek resident who also received a Best of Show at the Springfield Art Museum in 2009. “You have to plan, and it’s often challenging.”
Others up to the challenge include Sharon Stolzenberger, who took first place in mixed media for “A Contemplation of Ruminants.” Second place winners were Misuk Goltz for “Smoke Break” and Trish McKinney, for her mixed media, “Whisper” that shows her daughter’s face surrounded by fall leaves.
“The first place watercolor is a small painting, but a powerful image. The first place mixed-media painting is a thrilling combination of drawing, dynamic use of value and creative design,” said juror Christopher Leeper, a water media artist in Canfield, and president of the Ohio Watercolor Society. “And finally, the Best in Show painting, in short, took my breath away.
“It combines great design, economy of style and virtuosity into a very memorable image. It epitomizes the best attributes of water media.”
Third place winners were Diane Coyle for a floral, “Spring Glory,” and Mary Jo White for her mixed media, “White Dog.”
Leeper chose several honorable mention winners: “Sedona Sunspots” by Leonard Williams; “Water’s Threshold” mixed media by Karen Benedetti; “Nicole,” portrait by Louise Spatz Doorley; “Three’s Company” watercolor by Rose Shultz; “Celebration” mixed media by Debra Wolf, and “Aerial,” an abstract watercolor by Jennifer O’Brien.
“There’s a certain feeling that you get when you put that first wash down, an a-ha moment that you get when the water mixes with the paint,” said McKinney, who plans on entering the work into the Ohio Watercolor Society Show.
Contact contributing arts writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.
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