Garden State Watercolor Society’s 2021 Annual Members Exhibition

Garden State Watercolor Society’s 2021 Annual Members Exhibition is wrapping up its online exhibit on April 15. The exhibition highlights traditional watermedia art as well as non-watermedia work, as a benefit to our members. The exhibit includes ink, collage, pencil and charcoal, alcohol inks and dyes, oil, acrylic and pastel and shows the wide rage of our artist members.

This exhibition usually occurs annually at the Middletown Arts Center. Ten percent of proceeds will benefit MAC. All items are for sale.

The public is encouraged to view the 2021 Annual Members Exhibition, free, via the YouTube link on the new website, https://www.gswcs.org.

167 paintings are presented in this year’s nonjuried exhibition, by 112 artists from NJ, PA, NY, and DE. Current members had the opportunity to enter one or two pieces each.

Awards were juried by artist Margaret Fanning. Margaret commented, “The overall caliber of the 167 entries made this year’s Member Show exceedingly difficult to judge. My goal was to select works that varied in genre and style, yet showed an understanding of composition, value and technique with their medium.” The award winners are:

Watermedia:

Best in Show – “Bygone,” Jacqueline Pidgeon-Pankuck, Oldwick, NJ

Signature Members:

First Place Award – “Laura,” John Wolff, Livingston, NJ

Award of Excellence – “Blinking Neon Riff,” Ann Greene, Newton, NJ

Marge Chavooshian Award – “The Great Debate,” Lisa Budd, West Creek, NJ

(Marge Chavooshian was a Trenton area artist whose family sponsors this award in memorium.)

Associate Members:

First Place Award – “Paint Store Serenade,” Barbara Kaiser, Flemington, NJ

Award of Excellence – “Weave Me the Sunshine,” Richard Haynes, Fairfield, NJ

Merit Award – “Fall Pond,” Jim Maloney, Little Egg Harbor, NJ

Non-watermedia:

Award of Excellence – “Tulip Bowl,” pastel, Rita Feeney, Morris Plains, NJ

Merit Award – “Rainy Day Drive,” oil on canvas, Hema Gupta, Morganville, NJ

On March 21, the awards ceremony was held. A live watercolor demonstration of a nocturne painting by artist/ children’s book illustrator Doris Ettlinger followed and can be seen on our website. For background, info and links to the exhibit, visit https://www.gswcs.org or the Middletown Arts Center at https://middletownarts.org/category/virtual/.