Spring 2017Artists’

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

I just want to say what an honor it is to represent The New Jersey Watercolor Society and

its long history of excellence in watercolor. We have been the ‘home’ of many of

the best artists working in watercolor. I’ve been proud of the wide range in styles

that we represent, from traditional realism to contemporary abstraction, from Bob

Sakson, Tony Ventura and James Toogood to Pat Dews, Pat San Soucie and

Nessa Grainger. We have always represented the full gamot but not everyone re-

alizes it, artists who focused on acrylic, gouache, as well as watercolor. We may

make small amendments to what is accepted, but always keeping in mind that it be

in keeping with a watercolor feel. The point is keep up the quality and draw in

more artists of quality. As editor of the newsletter I have been writing articles on

the history of watercolor in New Jersey, as well as the important national figures.

Now I’d like to start a new series, Why Watercolor? With all the choices we have

why? Many for the simple clean up, but there are many others, mine is historical,

my mother’s influence and the boldness of Sargent and Turner (see page 6). I hope

to pass on other’s reasons.

The NJWCS has represented much of that for me. But while the old rules worked

well in it’s day, society changes, its hard to expect artists to traipse the state for juries, and

even choosing jurors has become more difficult. So we have made some unpopular deci-

sions. We haven’t made the changes willy nilly, we are also looking to increase our visibil-

ity and maintain the quality of the show. Also we used to show at Nabisco and were

viewed by many. We hope in future years to do a traveling show with the winners in the

Juried Show, increase the awards, and add pop up shows for members. We want to do

this so many more artists and interested public can see quality watercolors. More will be

discussed on page 5.

The 75th Annual Open Juried Show prospectus is up on the NJWCS.org website and

submissions will be accepted after May 23. It will be held at the delightful Middletown

Art Center from September 25 to October 29th. There is plenty of parking, good light,

and an open and easy atmosphere. The reception on the last day, October 29th from 2-4.

All members, Elected and Associate will get a professional catalog showing the winners.

But because it is juried on-line you only have to come for delivery and the reception, taking

it away after the awards reception. The juror of selection this year is Tim Saternow, AWS

and the juror of awards is Karen Brussat Butler, AWS, who will judge from the original

art as always.

The Elected Members Show will be held at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in

Morristown November 7, 2017- January 9, 2018.

The Associate Members Show will be held at the Union Library, November 1st to

December 21st. Reception on November 4th from 1-4 PM.

New Jersey Water Color Society www.njwcs.org

Spring 2017

Vol. 22, No. 1

New Members of AWS: Lucy Graves McVicker andSandy Mezinis with John Salminen

Steve Zazenski Founders Award winner

Page 2Elected Members in the News/Associate Members in the NewsPage 2-3 2016 Open Juried Show

Allen Taylor

Page 4 In MemoriamAllen Taylor & Joan Deniscia

Page 5 Notes on the SocietyOpen Juried Show

Jurors of Selection and Awards.

Page 6 “Why Watercolor?”Essay by Mark de Mos

Page 7 NJWCS Calendar and Info

2016 NJWCS Open Juried Show Winners

Elected Members in the News:Board policy for Member News is no more than 3 items per issue. Please submit in narrative form, and

submit only once per newsletter cycle. The Editor reserves the right to edit submissions.

Welcome New Elected Members: JOAN VENTIMIGLIA, ISABELLA

PISSANO, DORRIE RIFKIN, and MARYLOU SHIPMAN.

NJWCS members in the 150th Annual American Watercolor Socie-

ty International Exhibition: TIM GAYDOS, AWS was chosen to one of

the 3 jurors of Award, PAT DEWS, AWS, df received the Mary Bryan

Memorial Medal for Windswept, RICHARD HAYNES, AWS received

The Artist’s Magazine Watercolor Artist Magazine Award for Simple

Things. DOROTHY GANEK, AWS (Go Wild), LUCY GRAVES–

MCVICKER, AWS, (Sole Survivor III), EDWIN HAVAS, AWS (Boston

Lace), SANDY MEZINIS, AWS (Laura in the Summerhouse), and

CAROL STAUB,(Celestial 5) were juried into the show. SANDY

MEZINIS and LUCY GRAVES-MCVICKER were voted as a new

signature member!

MICHAEL SCHERFEN’s watercolor portrait “The Port Authority Man”

was juried into the Salmagundi Club Non-Member Exhibition, July 28

- August 8.

MARYANN BURTON received the Cynthia Shipp Googal Memorial

Award in the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club 120th Annual Open

Show for her painting “Alternate Side of the Street Parking.”

JUDITH HUMMER received First Prize in the 2017 Philadelphia

Watercolor Society Annual Members Show: March 24—May 5,

2017 at Boyer Gallery located at The Hill School in Pottstown, PA.

Judy has an alcohol ink/watercolor painting accepted into the 2017

2

Ellarslie Open Show at the Trenton City Museum, Trenton NJ.:

March 28-June 25 2017. Judy was awarded an Honorable Men-

tion at the North East Watercolor Society Annual Juried Mem-

ber Show (2 juried in) at the Orange Hall Gallery/SUNY Orange

County Community College, Middletown, NY, Feb.-March.

MEL STABIN was awarded 1st Place in the Georgia Watercolor

Society’s 38th Annual National Exhibition at the Carrollton Cultur-

al Arts Center. Mel will be the Juror of Awards at the North East

Watercolor Society’s 41st International Juried Exhibition in Octo-

ber at the Kent Art Association in Kent, CT. He will also be con-

ducting a workshop for the North East Watercolor Society from

October 10-12 at the Seligmann Gallery in Sugar Loaf , NY.

Associate Member in the News

ROBERT SUSSNA was on the Jury of Selection for the North

East Watercolor Society Annual International Juried Show, his

painting Bridge Street was chosen for the New Hope Historical

Society Show in September 2016 at the New Hope Arts, New

Hope, PA, and his Abstract #1 was included in the Hunterdon Art

Museum’s 2016 Member Exhibit (Oct-Dec 2016).

JUDI GILDEN won the Genevieve Cain Award for Watercolor atthe National Arts Club Exhibiting Artist Member's Exhibit. Shealso won The David Wu and Elsie Jeck-Key Memorial Award fromthe Allied Artists of America, Inc., 103rd Annual Exhibition, Sal-magundi Club, NYC. She will also be exhibiting at “Women ArtistsCoast to Coast – West” at the Washington State Convention Cen-ter, Seattle, WA..

THE NJWCS MARY S. LAWRENCE FOUNDER’S AWARD THE NUMMIE WARGA MEMORIAL AWARD

BLUE COLLAR STEVE ZAZENSKI AWS CREPES ON 9TH ROBERTA OLIVER

SILVER MEDAL OF HONOR JINNIE MAY

Note because shows are juried by an out-

side juror the NJWCS decided to vote on

the medal winner by vote of the board

(not in the show) based on service alone.

THE NJWCS MEMORIAL AWARD LOOP DRIVE

EDWARD RABINOWITZ

THE NEW JERSEY WATER COLOR SOCIETY AWARD WINNERS 2016THE NEW JERSEY WATER COLOR SOCIETY SILVER MEDAL OF HONOR JINNIE MAY

THE NJWCS MARY S. LAWRENCE FOUNDER’S AWARD BLUE COLLAR STEVE ZAZENSKI AWS

THE NUMMIE WARGA MEMORIAL AWARD CREPES ON 9TH ROBERTA OLIVER

THE NJWCS MEMORIAL AWARD LOOP DRIVE EDWARD RABINOWITZ

(IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF OUR PAST MEMBERS, ALL OF WHOM MADE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON OUR SOCIETY)

THE CONTESSA-BONARDI AWARD NANA CHARLES MCVICKER AWS

THE AVERY AND NINA JOHNSON AWARD 59TH STREET BRIDGE, NYC MEL STABIN AWS

THE FREDRICK SMALLWOOD JR. MEMORIAL AWARD COUNTRY FIELDS ROBERT HEYER

THE NAT AND COLE LEWIS MEMORIAL AWARD MERGING 2 LOIS SANDERS

THE NICHOLAS REALE MEMORIAL AWARD FORGOTTEN FACES ELISE MORENON AWS

THE VALENTINA MEMORIAL AWARD SIMPLE THINGS RICHARD WILLIAM HAYNES AWS

THE ALLEN TAYLOR MEMORIAL AWARD OFF IN THE DISTANCE LISA BUDD

THE SANDERS-WOROB MEMORIAL AWARD SWEET DISTORTIONS-AL VESSELLI

THE XUEYAN LIU AWARD $150(FOR A FIGURE PAINTING) JENNIFER- JUDY BALLANCE

THE JOHN C. BERMINGHAM AWARD EVENTIDE- LUCY GRAVES MCVICKER

THE CATHARINE LORILLARD WOLFE ART CLUB AWARD DINO’S RESTAURANT-ROBERT NARDOLILLO

THE TED AND KATHLEEN NEAD AWARD WESTERN VIEW- MARYANN BURTON

THE SONJA WEIR MEMORIAL AWARD COMPTON CREEK ROBERT DEMAREST

THE SAKER SHOPRITES, INC. AWARD LOOKING EAST- ELSA HERRMANN

THE KIM MOONWATER MORELLO MEMORIAL AWARD URBAN CANYON #2 MARILYN ROSE

THE RIDGEWOOD ART INSTITUTE AWARD REMEMBERING “SUMMERTIME”-ELIZABETH OBERMAN

59TH STREET BRIDGE, NYC MEL STABIN AWS COUNTRY FIELDS ROBERT HEYER FORGOTTEN FACES ELISE MORENON AWS

SIMPLE THINGS OFF IN THE DISTANCE LISA BUDD SWEET DISTORTIONS-AL VESSELLI

RICHARD WILLIAM HAYNES AWS JENNIFER- JUDY BALLANCE

DINO’S RESTAURANT- WESTERN VIEW- COMPTON CREEK ROBERT DEMAREST LOOKING EAST- ELSA HERRMANN

ROBERT NARDOLILLO MARYANN BURTON

REMEMBERING “SUMMERTIME”-

ELIZABETH OBERMAN

Juror of Awards

Susan Weintraub, AWS

In Memoriam: There has been a terrible loss to the New Jersey

Water Color Society. ALLEN TAYLOR of Verona passed away

shortly after his 80th birthday in the summer of 2016.

Allen was an elected member of NJWCS, and valued member the boardin charge of digital communication, was also a Signature Member of theGarden State Watercolor Society, and North East Watercolor Society.Allen took up watercolor after he retired from a career in advertising witha particular fondness for his work for Jaguar, returned to his early love ofdrawing and painting following his wife, and fellow NJWCS electedmember and past president, Ann Taylor, into watercolor. He quicklymade a name for himself in the New Jersey art community as a highly gift-ed realist artist, and as a volunteer with the NJWCS and especially withthe Essex Watercolor Club where he turned their monthly newsletterinto a vibrant and very professional publication, he cannot be replaced.

Allen was also known for his wry wit.As subjects for his paintings, Allen frequently drew from his sur-roundings and travels. His most recent works included paintings ofFrance, Holland, Italy, the Canadian Maritimes, Cape Cod andRockport, MA as well as his hometown, Verona New Jersey. He wasalso an avid photographer and computer graphic brochure andnewsletter design.He won numerous awards for his work, and was active to the endand was juried into the 2016 North East Watercolor Society ex-hibit (Oct 2016), Saturday Morning, Paris. Among his awards wasthe Award for Traditional Realism, (2010) from the American ArtistsProfessional League, and many awards from the Essex WatercolorClub and NJ State Senior Art Shows.

In Memoriam: We are saddened to inform you that JOAN DENISCIA passed away

on May 20th. She was a long time member of New Jersey Water Color Society and exhib-

ited in many shows over the years. Joan always enjoyed her association with New Jersey

Water Color and looked forward

to exhibiting.

Sincerely,

The De Niscia Family

Juror of Selection/open juried show: TIM SATERNOW, AWS

He received an MFA from Yale University and taught Theater Design and Art Direc-

tion at the University of Connecticut, and Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh,

PA. paints large-scale urban watercolors that reveal the fleeting beauty of the facto-

ries and gritty streets of New York City. He is a board member of the American Wa-

tercolor Society. He has been included in numerous magazines and books including

Watercolor Artist, American Artist Water Color Magazine, and Splash 12, 13 and 18.

Tim received the Bronze Medal of Honor from the American Watercolor Society (2016),

the Walser S. Greathouse Medal (2017), and the Gold and Silver medals from The Allied Art-

ists of America, and numerous awards from other national shows. He received an Em-

my Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction, for The Piano Lesson

and numerous awards for his set and lighting design for the theater.

Awards Judge / Open Juried Show, KAREN BRUSSAT BUTLER, AWSShe has been elected to membership to the American Watercolor Society, Na-

tional Watercolor Society and as well as several printmaking associations. She

received awards from the American Watercolor Society (4 awards), National

Watercolor Society (President’s Award), San Diego Water Society (Best in

Show), Butler Institute of American Art, National Academy of Design

(Purchase Award), and Watercolor USA (Purchase Award), as well a numerous

awards for her printmaking. “I’ve always loved to work on the surface of paper.

After many years of painting watercolors I began making lithographs. The ap-

proach is the same, one makes lines and washes with pencils, pens and brushes

on a surface.” Her work is whimsical and is both figurative and narrative. “Please

enjoy looking, and see if you can find the stories.”

The Annual Open Juried Show:

Until now we always juried from original art. Watercolor-

ists came from all over the state to bring their work, wait 3 or 4

hours as the work was juried by a jury of members chosen by the

membership. It was a great event, as we carried the work for the

jury. There was lunch it was a way to get to know each other. We

also came back for the reception a few days later, and came back for

pick up. Aspiring watercolorists would go to see the show in large

numbers. It worked great, the quality was great so why change?

Well times change.

With gas no longer $1.oo a gallon, Nabisco not available for

shows, computers, cell phones, etc. It could be difficult on those

who could not get in. But on top of that many of the best known

names have retired, moved… so it became more and more difficult to

get a jury together. On top of that, many thought that the juries

were biased against them, pushing favorites, friends, students, even

we covered the names. But truth be told, nobody talked in juries,

we all tried our best, not playing favorites. On the other hand, put-

ting together 7 artists with different tastes, some pushed to one

kind, others the opposite. Paintings went round and round until a

decision was forced. The number of accepted works would change

arbitrarily according to the whims of the jury. Often it was the

what was acceptable to a majority. Often jurying out likely award

winning work. We couldn’t compare one piece to another, we did-

n’t have time to contemplate, and we couldn’t control the number

included in the show. With an outside juror, we don’t have to worry

about playing favorites, the juror could take time to compare

works, on purpose choose a diverse show of styles, the number of

works to be included and a juror from the best artists from across

the country. We still use a relatively nearby AWS artist to judge

the show from the original work.

How do we get more artists to see the work.

A lot of people don’t like to drive to far to see the show. Or just

don’t know about us. So in the future (hopefully starting next

year), we plan to have a Travelling Show of the award winners.

Being a smaller number of works it will be easier to find good spac-

es to show them. Plus a write up and pictures(!) for newspapers.

Pop-Up Shows:

We also are looking to support group shows by our members. One

trial show was held at a new gallery in Hackensack. The thought

is that all our members have gone through the jury process, elected

to membership by showing their quality. In this way we would

get more exposure for quality watercolor and an added exposure of

the NJWCS to the public.

Facebook:

In order to pass on info, shows, member news in a modern way you

can join our facebook page curated by Richard Haynes, AWS. So

join up and we can pass on your exhibits in real time! I hope that

it can catch on with the public too!

Why Watercolor? Mark de Mos and the Power of TraditionI’d like to start a conversation on why we work in watercolor. Of course for many, its less messy

and easier to clean up than Oil or Pastel. But for many there are more interesting reasons why welove it, why we use it. Teachers, classic artists, its flexibility, it’s ability to convey spontaneity, its

poetic possibilities, and the qualities of the materials to create different effects.

The Power of Tradition: I’ve always been

fascinated by history, and my mother, Mieke, had lived though“interesting times” interned by the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies dur-

ing World War II, illustrating it in watercolor, her favorite medium. Shealso kept a diary, which was partly illustrated as well. For the last year

plus I have been translating it from the original Dutch, with 1940’s Malay added on. It hasbeen a huge project that I hope to publish in the next year. She didn’t paint in watercolor

again until my father passed away. She started to paint again the same day I started to do penand ink. She studied with Nic Reale and Gladys Russel, two classic NJ watercolorists. Eventu-

ally we took classes together in a local art association. We became involved and brought inartists we liked. For me the most important formative teacher was Bob Sakson. It was the

way of mixing on the paper, cleanness, limited palette, painting quickly, while creating a feel-ing of reality. I picked up ideas from numerous other painters, Ed Havas, Arne Lindmark (to

make one thing brighter, paint something duller next to it), Ferdinand Petrie, Bob Heyer, etcetc, kind of who’s who of NJ watercolor. But as I endeavored to create my own approach or

style, I looked to other artists as well, Charles Reid for mixing on the paper, the way to create

light from Sargent and Turner, subject matter from Hopper.

In a big way I was out of step with the common approach. I have takenup other media, pastel, oil and watercolor on yupo. Another of my formative

artists was Frank Zuccarelli, in pastel. He was an important oil painter, andwas good in pen and ink and watercolor too. Out of the classic tradition. And

like Turner, I try to incorporate aspects of other media in my work. My designsense is not traditional watercolor, I am not really a one center of interest paint-

er. I usually have numerous centers of interest, using color and value to drawthe eye from place to place. On top of that is

the quality of the color, texture, value, takingadvantage of the texture of the paper, sedi-

mentary colors, which allows colors to sepa-rate.

One of the ways I create a sense of reality and movement is to do underpaintingthat are very loose, even messy, tilting the paper so the I could mix wet color and unex-

pected effects, overlaying it with tighter washes and calligraphy. In watercolor the underlayers always show through, unlike oil and acrylic which are too opaque.

Many are too afraid of watercolor because it is difficult, but I feel that is what al-lows us to create work that is more personal than other media allow. There is an inherent

poetry to watercolor, our choices show, is it painted wet in wet, thick, thin, spatter, salt,miskit, opaque over transparent, we have the ability to create such different looks, and per-

sonal styles that is much harder to do in oil or even acrylic. Then you can add things likeyupo, which allows for the creation of textures in completely different ways.

NJWCS 2017 CalendarNJWCS 75th Annual Open Juried Exhibition

September 25-October 29Middletown Arts Center, Middletown, NJ

Receiving: Saturday September 23rd 10-12Reception Sunday October 29th 2-4 PM/Pick-up Sunday, Oct. 29. 4-5PM

NJWCS Associate Members Annual Show

November 4- December 21

‘Les Malamut Gallery’ in the Union Library

1980 Morris Avenue, Union NJ

RECEIVING: Wed. Nov. 1, 2017 10:00 am—noon

RECEPTION: Sat., Nov. 4 1:00 - 4:00pm,

award ceremony at 3pm

PICKUP: Thursday, Dec. 21, between 10-12 pm.

Members' Elected Members Annual Show

November 7, 2017- January 9, 2018.Mayo Center for the Arts, Upstairs Gallery,

South St., Morristown

Receiving: Tuesday, November 7, 2017 10 am-noon

Reception

Pickup: January 9, 2018

Membership Chair: Jinnie May15 Longview Ave., Randolph, NJ 07869Jinnielou@aol.comMembership due on January 1 each year. $35 forelected members and $ for Associate Members.

7XploringThe boundaries

Of

WatermediaTraditional realism to

contemporary abstraction

Send Your Member News to:Editor: Mark de Mosemail: demosart@verizon.net7 Richlyn Court Morristown, NJ 07960Home: (973)267-4363 Cell: (862)-812-7450

Information deadlinesFall, 2017 August 15, 2017Spring, 2018 February 15, 2018Summer, 2018 May 1, 2018

Advertise in the NJWCS NewsletterBusiness Card Sized Ad: $25 for 2 issuesAdvertise a show, your website, your art related

business. Call Mark at 862-812-7450