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THE VERMONT WATERCOLOR SOCIETY
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December 2012 |
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Upcoming
VWS Events
12/ 4/ 2012-3/2/2013
Open Show, Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital
Lebanon N.H.
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HUB-BUB-BUB
The New Hub Guide The new Hub Initiative has taken off and is still growing! More local VWS events are ocurring and more VWS members are participating in these watercolor related activities. As can be expected when a new initiative is launched, questions have arisen around our newly formed Hubs. The VWS Board has written a Hub Guide in order to carefully answer these questions. You can find the Guide on our new website. Our current Hub Guide contains basic information regarding the" who, what, why and where" of our Hubs. As our Hubs continue to grow, it is expected additional questions will require thoughtful attention. The Board will address the questions as they occur and add the information to the Hub Guide. If you have Hub related questions please contact Pamela Dexter, Hub Director:
Know your Hub
Point Persons:
Brattleboro:
Lynn Hoeft
Burlington/St. Albans
Lynn Cummings
Manchester/Bennington:
Reggie Springer
Diane Bell
Middlebury/Rutland:
Montpelier:
Lisa Beach
New Hampshire:
Pamela Dexter
Newport/St. Johnsbury:
Pat Lipinski
White River Hub:
Kate Reeves
Janice Bean
HUB-BUB NEWS:
From Lynn Hoeft:
The Brattleboro hub is having a show at The
Vermont Welcome Center in Guilford for the month of February. Six members will be displaying their paintings in this beautiful barn on I-91, the main entry point in Vermont and the busiest welcome center in the state.
VOLUNTEER NEWS
Many thanks to all our 2012 volunteers! We had an impressive list in our Fall Meeting program. If you missed it, you can check it out on our new website.
Please contact amanda.amend@gmail.com to talk more about how you can help and enjoy the rewards of being involved.
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Newsletter Submissions:
All member events , workshops and show announcements should be sent to :
Newsletter article deadline is the 20th of each month.
Please put "VWS NEWSLETTER " in your title. Thank you!
If you have images, please send them in JPG format as an email attachment.
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I am really looking forward to serving the Vermont Watercolor Society as your new president. Before I begin writing articles for the newsletter I would like to take this space this month to share the comments I made at the Annual meeting last year thanking Jan for her years of service.
Thank You Jan,
The over arching theme I find in the 5 years of Jan's presidency in the VWS is one of institutional growth and unification. I tend to think of organizations as organic, living reflections of the common aspirations of a community of individuals who share an interest. Some are able to grow from small informal clubs to formal organizations and a few are able to develop into institutions. Long term survival as a group, I believe, is enhanced through this growth.
Thanks to Jan's keen business sensibilities and deep understanding of organizational structures she has, in 5 years, moved the our organizational development light years on the path of becoming an institution. We are all the beneficiaries of her legacy as president. During her presidency she has perceived needs on the board of directors and grown the board to accommodate those needs from 4 members to 11. She has diligently kept the by-laws of our organization up to date with our reality and our growth. She has worked tirelessly and in some cases endlessly in the day to day matters of governance to keep us on course and those of us on the board focused on delivering a meaningful experience to our membership. She has committed countless hours working with others (most notably Everett Webber) to formulate the case to the IRS that they should grant us Non-Profit status, a task that has proven to be a challenge in the current climate where the IRS has revoked over 700,000 tax exemptions in the last year.
She has overseen the effort to better communicate with our general membership and to make that communication a two way street. She has also been blessed with a motivated membership who volunteers at a phenomenal percentage for most organizations.
But most importantly she has overseen the birth and the implementation of the big VWS experiment - Hubs. This imitative has in many cases already translated in as a more accessible VWS for our membership helping us overcome the geographic distances that have separated us and helping our membership develop meaningful and personal relationships.
This has been a remarkable period of growth and development in our organization and much of it is due to her hard and dedicated work. Jan, we all thank you for it.
Till next month,
Mark Nielsen, VWS President
SPRING MEETING!
from Claudia Carl, director of Events:
In other news, the Spring Event will be held on Sunday, April 28th at the Middlebury Inn in Middlebury from 10am to 3pm. We will be having fun playing with paint and experimenting with techniques to create interesting effects and textures. Bring your sence of adventure and your need to play! Let that inner child out! Please reserve your space ASAP and BEFORE April 22. I need to know how much food and art supplies to order! Very Important!!!
Spring Event Registration form can be found on out web site:
OTHER NEWS OF NOTE:
I am pleased to announce that Sarah Rosedahl , as our new Director of Communications, will be taking over as editor of this Newsletter. Starting February 1, 2013, please send your submissions to:
Sarah Rosedahl:
srosedah@yahoo.com
Please contact
Sarah is also organizing VWS PR activities. Please contact Sarah for help with or any question about PR for VWS exhibitions and events.
It has been a pleasure working with you all this past year, and in past years as well, as former VWS Secretary and former VWS President. Time to pass the wand after 12+ years! (I am, apparently, still the VWS archivist/historian, at least for the time being.)
See you at the next meeting!
Cynthia Crawford
IMPORTANT:
The VWS membership year is from January first of the new year. If membership is not renewed by January first of the new year, your membership goes into delinquency until payment is received during which time you will not be able to participate in any VWS sponsored exhibitions, events, workshops or meetings. If your membership remains delinquent for one year, your membership will be terminated along with your Signature Member Status if obtained.
Please include the MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM which is needed by the Membership Director to keep an accurate record in the VWS Database. The renewal form can be obtained from the VWS website.
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VWS UPCOMING and ONGOING SHOWS
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Show:
From Claudia Carl: I went to the Dartmouth Opening of the VWS Show and it was really good to see such a strong showing of 58 of our members paintings. We went on a tour to see a few of the other artists who had displays up in other corridors as well as our show. The setting at Dartmouth makes you appreciate that there is a place where the people who have to be go thru those halls and walkways for whatever reason have the opportunity to view a wide range of art which hopefully can reach out to them in some way that might sooth or move them. It is nice to see how as a Society we have such an amazing range of tallent and how well our art looks together up on the walls. Liz the currator and Rebecca did a wonderfull job hanging this show and I would hope that our members would take the time to make a trip in the next 2 months to see this great collection of art.
- Pick Up from Gallery: 3/2/2013
- Gallery commission: 25%
UPCOMING IN 2013
June Juried Awards Show - full prospectus available soon! Please check the VWS web site in a few weeks.
Venue: SEABA (South End Arts & Business Association) 404 Pine Street, Burlington, VT
Juror: John Lovett
Gallery commission: 30% Entry Fee: $15
Calendar:
- Image Submission: 4/15/2013
- Notification to Artists by: 5/3/2013
- Show Start & End: 6/3 - 6/28/2013
- Delivery to Gallery: 6/1/2013
- Show Reception: 6/7/2013
- Pick Up from Gallery: 6/28/2013
Eligibility:
- All current dues-paid VWS Members
- Original works of art painted with water-soluble media (transparent watercolor, gouache, watercolor pencil, watercolor sticks & watercolor inks)
- Works of art not previously shown in statewide VWS shows
- Works must be professionally framed, with glass or Plexiglas, ready for hanging
- Watercolor paper, canvas, & boards, Gessoed paper & Yupo acceptable
- Top mats must be white or off-white
- Watercolor canvas & watercolor boards do not need mats or glass
- Frames must not exceed 44" on any side
- All work must be for sale
September 2013
Juried Show: "Watercolor - Out of Bounds"
Juror: Linda Kemp
This show will be different from our typical shows, as multi media with watercolor, 3D work and other "non-traditional" watercolor art is the focus of this show. Additional details will be announced on the VWS website and through Snipppets. |
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NEW! Featured Member Profile:
Each month we will feature a VWS member in this newsletter. We will start by introducing you to our hard-working Board of Directors, who all serve VWS as volunteers. Today we welcome our new President:
MARK NIELSEN
I was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1957. The oldest child of three, we lived our early years in the suburbs of Boston. In high school our family relocated for a three year stint to Kwajalein, a small island 8 degrees from the equator in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Kwajalein is one of 500 or so similar small islands making up the Marshall Islands. I completed High School back in the "States" and headed to Carnegie-Mellon University where I received my Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1979. I lived and worked Boston from 1980 till 2008 when my wife and I moved to Vermont, trading in the "urban experience" for the "rural lifestyle". While in Boston I worked as an architect eventually starting and managing my own firm of 10 employees with a partner in 1997. I decided to become an architect early in life and for most of my life had no interest in doing anything else. While in Boston I founded and directed Oasis Studio. Oasis Studio was an after-hours non-profit architectural studio in Boston dedicated to facilitating the exchange of ideas in the fields of architecture and art. The studio published a magazine bi-monthly, sponsored a spring and fall lecture series. It participated in Boston's First Night creating "Boston 2076", "The Oracle", and "The Peace Park" in successive years. It initiated a publicly funded series of built projects in forgotten spaces entitled "The Boston Projects". The studio also hosted annual exhibits of member's work. Within a year of moving to Vermont my wife and I started Towle Hill Studio. Towle Hill Studio is located on our property in Corinth Vermont and invites artists to mount shows of their work for weekends from May through October. This arrangement allows the artists to keep 100% of their sales provided they do the work of hosting the shows. Towle Hill studio www.towlehillstudio.com is now entering its fourth season. I discovered watercolor painting in 2001 on an arts retreat. It just jumped out! All of a sudden there was a competing vision of what I might do with my career. My paintings tend to be realistic, landscapes featuring older worn down structures, often composed to highlight a material or some feature that captures my interest. To see more, visit my website www.mjnart.com. Today, I try to balance my work between architectural designing, watercolor painting, various board responsibilities and a part time job as Executive Director for a Regional Chamber of Commerce. I am currently a Signatory member of the Vermont Watercolor Society, The New England Watercolor Society and the American Society of Marine Artists. For the last three years I have served the VWS as Vice-President and this year became its President.  "Poulin Grain" by Mark Nielsen
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News from the Board
November Strategic Planning Meeting --Amanda Amend
November's day-long strategic planning meeting yielded excitement about the possibilities before us, some great ideas, and some concerns. The excitement: Hubs are leading to greater membership participation, a greater sense of community, and more opportunities for education and participation. The Hubs are proving to be a key structure through which the VWS fulfills its mission of "promoting the awareness and appreciation of watercolor... by providing opportunities and venues for participation, education, fellowship and exhibitions." Some great ideas: Our Director of Hubs, Pam Dexter, has planned a meeting of Point People in April, where your Point People will share ideas for activities and address some of the challenges that have arisen as we've embarked on this new initiative. Claudia Carl, Director of Programs, is planning a traveling program that will visit different Hubs this year. Concerns: The Hubs are only as vital as their membership. We have some very active Hubs, where members are initiating activities like life drawing, critique groups, exhibitions, and plein air events, and some Hubs that are happily ticking along with one or two events per year. Other Hubs are completely quiet, but we're not sure whether happily or unhappily so. If you would like to have a certain kind of activity in your Hub, contact your Point Person and offer to help organize it! The Hub is YOU. Other concerns have to do with the size of the Hubs, and in some cases with people who want to move between Hubs. These are some of the issues that will be discussed at the Point Person meeting in April. In the meantime, join the hubbub! You'll be glad you did.
Volunteer Views --Amanda Amend We currently don't have a Director of Volunteers (hint, hint), so I'm writing in his/her stead, for now....
My major goal as Vice President is to establish committees to help the Directors of Exhibitions and the Director of Programs. Yeh, yeh, yeh. You've heard it a dozen times, "We can't do it without you." BUT IT'S TRUE! All of the wonderful programs and exhibitions that your directors put on take a lot of time and work, and we need to share that load among us active members. Many hands do, indeed, make light work. There are LOTS of ways that you can help, from actually being on the board, to doing specific tasks like checking in work at a show, or helping with the raffle at the spring and fall meetings. Please call me (802-652-9893) or email me (amanda.amend@gmail.com) for more information, or you just may hear from one of us via the telephone. Thank you!
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How to Join the VWS Facebook Group:
If you are active on Facebook, please consider joining the Vermont Watercolor Society group page. In order to join the group, a VWS member has to have a Facebook account and submit a request to join. Your request to join will be sent to the group administrator, and you will be approved and added to our group based on our most current membership list. To join, click on this link, and then click on the "submit request to join" button.
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From Sheryl Trainor:
Many of you will remember one of our former Presidents, Annette Compton, who passed away last May. Her mother has organized a show and sale to give people the opportunity to see and buy her work:
Join ArtisTree for a special exhibit and sale of Annette Compton's life's work. Opening on Friday, February 1, from 5:30-7:30pm, and continuing through February 9, 2013. Visit www.artistreevt.org/gallery or call (802)457-3500 for more information. ArtisTree is located on Rte 12N just outside of Woodstock Village on the way to Barnard.
There will be work in oil and watercolor, framed and unframed available. Many pieces will be familiar with those who have taken Annette's classes. Hope to see you there!  | | Annette Compton |
From Gary Ekhart:
Congratulations! Gary has received signature status from the Northeast Watercolor Society.
Other news from Gary:
The Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition, Mad River Valley. June 29 to July 28, 2013. The prospectus for the Exhibition will be available starting February 14 at www.vermontartfest.com. The Exhibition opens June 29 and runs through July 28 in the Mad River Valley and is anticipating more than 2000 visitors. Entry deadline is May 1.
4th Annual Vermont Plein Air Festival, Jericho. July 20. Registration starts February 1.
3rd Annual Great Vermont Plein Air Festival, Mad River Valley. August 16 & 17. Registration starts March .
16th Annual Vermont Festival of the Arts, Mad River Valley. August 1st through Labor Day.
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VWS SPONSORED WORKSHOPS 2013
LINDA KEMP
Note:
The Linda Kemp workshop is filling so for all those who have been thinking about it, there is still a spot for you! As always we get a great group of people who have fun in a wonderfull setting at the Landgrove Inn. This September will be fabulous with the fall colors surrounding us and all that creative energy. So sign up now and have all the anticipation build toward a fall to remember.
 
Watercolor Workshop
September 9-13 2013
"In View"
Landgrove Inn
Landgrove, Vt.
Tuition: (does not include lodging)
VWS Members: $495
Non-Members: $575
Lodging: contact Landgrove Inn 802-824-6673
Send registration form at VermontWatercolorSociety.com along with deposit of $100 to hold a spot with full payment due July 2, 2013 to: Claudia Carl Program Director Box 990
Middlebury, VT 05753
Linda Kemp CSPWC, SCA, OSA, SAA (Hon.) instructs and lectures at national symposiums and watercolor workshops throughout Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Her internationally recognized "Negative Painting" concepts are the focus of her book and video, Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines. Her award winning paintings are in private, public, and corporate collections around the world, including The Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, U.K.
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2014 Landgrove Workshops -VWS Sponsored
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2014-John Salminen  
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VWS Board of Directors
2013
Mark Nielsen, President
Amanda Amend, Vice-President
Peter Land, CPA, Treasurer
Reggie Springer, Recording Secretary
Claudia Carl, Director of Education & Programs
Rebecca Gottesman, Co-Director of Exhibitions
Lynn Cummings, Co-Director of Exhibitions
Joann DiNicola, Director of Membership
OPEN: Director of Volunteers
Pam Dexter, Director of Hubs
Sarah Rosedahl, Director of Communications
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It is very exciting to have Holbein, USA as a VWS Partner. Being a Vermont based art supplier and full time supporter of arts and the artists who make them, it is a perfect fit for both of us. Please get to know Holbein and support them not only because they are one of our partners, but because they are a world leader in colors and mediums for artists. The Landgrove Inn is the premier, all-in-one lodging, dining and fun space in which to create, exhibit and learn. Check out the 2010 workshop schedule at Landgrove Inn, or call 802 824-6673. Tom and Maureen Checchia, owners. |
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