That's me standing next to my painting in the gallery. [Here's the post about my painting.]
It's not often that museums do shows of all watercolor. Watercolor isn't as tough as oil or bronze and museums keep the important pieces locked away in climate controlled rooms. So -- It's a real treat to see 45 works in one gallery.
I spent a couple of hours trolling the walls admiring every single piece. The quality of art in the show was astounding. The juror was John Salminen, an internationally known artist and recipient of over 200 awards. I felt very very lucky to have been included in this group. There were portraits, cityscapes, abstracts, still lifes, etc. The collection showed the full range of modern and traditional watercolor styles. 45 paintings were chosen from 137 submissions.
Truth be told, there was a big part of me that was sure that my painting had been included just to make the other ones look better by comparison. I don't have a lot of confidence in the quality of my work.
Imagine how overjoyed I was to see that my painting is one of two which were placed facing the entrance to the exhibit and are first to be seen in the collection. That's mine on the left. [The one on the right won a huge award.] Perhaps my work is better than I think it is.The museum does all the hanging and arrangement themselves. WSI sends the photos and sizes and the museum staff takes over. Things were mostly arranged by subject. The wall to the left of my painting held the rest of the landscapes.
On the way home, we all chose the paintings we loved most. There were so many fabulous choices. [My favorite is the one with the swan.] The gallery is in the admission free area of the museum. If you get a chance to go see this show, it would be well worth your time. I'd love to hear what your favorite pieces are.
