Area artists exhibit works in watercolor show
LITTLE ROCK — Members of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists gathered March 9 in the galleries of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies to learn who had won what in the 48th annual juried exhibition.
“We are all winners,” said Carole Canino of Little Rock, president-elect of the organization. “Congratulations to all artists whose works were accepted into this show.”
Juror Iain Stewart of Opelika, Alabama, selected 49 paintings from 124 entries submitted by 72 MSW members from 12 states. Stewart is a signature member of both the American and National Watercolor societies.
Four artists from the Three
Rivers Edition coverage area are among those whose works were selected for the Mid-Southern Watercolorists exhibit that will remain on display through June 30.
Luanne Stone of Gepp (in Fulton County) received the Doris Williamson Mapes Memorial Award of $250 for her entry On the Pond. Mapes’ daughter, Kay Mapes Caffey, presents the award annually.
Stone received the same award in 2017.
“I am flattered to receive this award again,” Stone said. “Doris Williamson Mapes was one of the founders of this organization and a well-respected artist. It is generous of her family to sponsor this award in her memory.”
Stone’s work features three swans swimming in a pond.
“These swans were swimming in a large pond behind my cousin’s house,” she said. “We had a paddleboat and floated around with them, taking pictures. The light was beautiful, and the water was shining. I could not resist painting them.
“I like the reflections more than anything,” Stone said, smiling. “The water was done in a batik fashion with a lot of painting and masking.
“I really wasn’t sure what I would get, but I kept my vision while I worked, and when I removed the mask, I was delighted with the results. It was a lot of work but well worth the effort.”
Stone is a signature member of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists, which means her works have been accepted in three juried annual MSW exhibitions.
Three other area artists have work in this year’s MSW exhibition: B. Jeannie Fry of Cabot, Sandra Marson of Jacksonville and Charlotte Rierson of Fairfield Bay. All three artists received MSW Diamond Signature Membership this year, meaning their works have been accepted in five annual exhibitions.
Fry is a past-president of MSW and current treasurer of the organization. Her painting in this year’s show is an abstract titled Squeaky Kleen.
“Their ropes beat rhythmically, like guitar strings, against the giant windows, stretching nearly three stories high,” Fry writes in her artist’s statement. “They slopped water on these windows with their sponges, while swaying to and fro. They rose up and then descended down on their ropes, clearing the water with their noisy squeegees. It was rather like a circus performance dancing before us. And as we sat, we were delightfully hypnotized … while … waiting … waiting … waiting … to see our doctors, there, in the cancer clinic.”
Marson edits MSW’s monthly newsletter, “MSW Views.” Her painting in this year’s exhibit is titled Passages.
Marson said her painting is “an abstract expressionist painting created by tonal passages of angular shapes and bright colors. The surface is separated by small intersecting planes of white lines that create movement and depth.”
Rierson is a past president of MSW and a regional member adviser. Her painting in this year’s show is titled Beyond the Garden.
“The painting is of my backyard garden and moves through the valley to Greers Ferry Lake,” Rierson said. “The inspiration for this painting was a trip out west. I was awed by the majestic mountains and canyons. When looking at the canyons with the spirit of the wind blowing and the glow of the sun, I was inspired to paint my interpretation of Bryce Canyon with a mystic village waiting to come alive in the distance. I want my viewers to feel this same sensation.”
The public is invited to view the MSW exhibition free of charge. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with extended hours to 8 p.m. the second Friday of each month, when the galleries participate in 2nd Friday Art Night in downtown Little Rock.
The Butler Center, which is part of the Central Arkansas Library System, is at 401 President Clinton Ave. in Little Rock. For more information, call (501) 320-5790 or visit www.butlercenter.org.
For more information on the Mid-Southern Watercolorists, visit the website www.midsouthernwater colorists.com or Facebook: Mid-SouthernWatercolorists.