NATIONAL WATERCOLOR SOCIETY

I hold a crisp sheet of white paper under the tap to wet it thoroughly, after which, I take it over to my easel, pick up a big brush, loaded with a creamy color, and lightly drag my brush across it. I watch in delight as the color mingles with the water, creating myriad gradients and textures, even as gravity does its thing and sets the primary direction of the flow. Sometimes, I pick up the sheet and turn it one way or the other to introduce some control in the process, but more often than not, I let the color and the water do their own thing, especially initially, when spontaneity and a light touch set the tone for the painting’s development. Watercolor artists across the globe have been painting like this since time immemorial – yet the medium itself stays eternally fresh and mysterious. I see myself as another, and I hope meaningful, link in a long, unbroken chain that stretches back into the past as well as into the unheralded future. Painting in watercolor keeps me challenged.
Columbia, MD

NWS Past President Dick Cole Award

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