Because we did not have any significant news for our winter issue, 2007 begins with our spring issue.

I would like to thank everyone who helped out at the Biggs landscape show, especially Earl Abbott, Dorothy Braun, Linda Chatfield, and Donna Hansen We couldn’t have managed without you. With more than 300 pieces of art from 89 artists, it was the largest show ever for the Biggs Museum.

Jurors Ross Merrill and David Meyer deserve special thanks for their insights and time. They had a difficult job selecting pieces and designating awards. This diverse multi-media show was the brain child of Ryan Grover, curator, at the Biggs. Ryan shares a vision of promoting all types of professional art that reflects high quality and creativity.

In addition to the five top award winners at the show, nine other artists each received an Honorable Mention for their work (see box).

Thanks for participating and congratulations to everyone!

Anne Crown-Cyr, President

Visitors take a close-up look at the landscape works at the Biggs during the opening reception. Photo courtesy of Ryan Grover.

Member News

Margaret Bayalis of St. Petersburg, FL received an Award of Distinction for her display of oil paintings on canvas at the Bonita Springs National Art Festival on March 10, 2007. Acclaimed pastel artist, Greg Biolchini juried the show. Ranked fifth in the nation by Sunshine Artist Magazine, the Bonita Springs National Art Festival is one of Florida's premier art events. For further information about Bayalis' work or the Bonita Springs National Art Festival, go to the following: www.geocities.com/mbayalis
www.biolchini.com/welcome.html
artinusa.com/bonita/awards.htm
artinusa.com/bonita/index.html.

Pat Belser’s Girl with A Flower is among the works hanging in the National Museum for Women in the Arts for their upcoming spring auction on April 20. For more information, go to www.nmwa.org or call (202) 783-5000.

Connie Boland’s painting, Coffee Break has been accepted into the Mid-Atlantic Show for the Baltimore Watercolor Society at Strathmore Hall, 10701 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland. Her Laughing Lilies watercolor was juried into the Potomac Valley Watercolor Show, which will hang at Strathmore in the Invitational Gallery at the same time. The opening

Lesley McCaskill, Fran McCaskill, and Anne Crown-Cyr will have their drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings on display at the Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club from June 13 through July.

Lesley will have a solo showing of her works from August 8 to August 23 at Aerie Art Gallery in Rehoboth Beach.

Anne and Lesley will have a joint show of paintings from Provence in the fall at Cloud 9, Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach.

June 4-8 – Cynthia Swanson, will teach Intermediate Watercolor again at the Rehoboth Art League.

Riva Brown’s Far Tree Vista won Best in Watercolor.

Jeanne Mueller’s View of Inlet II received an honorable mention.

Paintouts. DWS is planning four paintouts for 2007 during May, June, September, and October. We plan to return to Oxford and Cheasapeake City, MD. More information to follow. We will have updated information on this website when it is available.

Upcoming juried shows. During August, DWS will have a juried member show at the Nassau Valley Vineyard and Winery in Nassau. In September, we will return to Grace Church for our fall juried show. More information to follow.

Anyone interested in helping out with these shows, please contact Anne Cyr as soon as possible at cyrdsgn@comcast.net or (302) 226-7781.

Workshops

DWS worked with the Rehoboth Art League to bring well-known professional artists to our area. Please take advantage of some of the following.

April 25-18 - Ross Merrill, chief curator of the National Gallery of Art, will teach Plein Air Landscape Painting.

May 14-18 - Ken Hosmer returns to the Rehoboth Art League to teach Watercolor: Adventures in Color. Ken’s unique approach to color can bring life and uniqueness to your paintings. His vibrant colors and laid back teaching style will make you a fan. Go to www.kenhosmer.com to see Ken’s work.

June 29 - Melissa Hackman will show you how to develop a creative, original sketchbook or journal. Melissa has developed some absolutely beautiful books that journal her travels and art. This is a must do. One day only.

October 11-13 - Walt Bartman comes back to teach Painting on Location. Walt paints in oil, pastel, and watercolor, so anyone should be able to get what they need from this wonderful class.

For more information on these and other workshops, contact RAL at (302) 227-8408.

Cape Artists will host a plein air workshop by Frank Francese, June 18-22, in Lewes. For more information, contact Marge Weiss at (302) 644- 7104 .

Help with the Newsletter If you would like to see the newsletter continue, we could use your help. If you like to write and want to help gather news and stories from members in and around your area or would like to help with mailing out the newsletter, please email the President at cyrdsgn@comcast.net or call her at (302) 226-7781.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Grace juried show in September. It was a lovely show and gave everyone in the state a chance to show of their work.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Sandy Frick, E. Jean Lanyon, and Sherry Pues for their help with the entries; to Suzanne Detrick and Doris and George Glackin who did such a beautiful job hanging the show; and to Riva Brown and Marjorie Egee for their assistance in making sure pieces were picked up after the jurying and at the end of the show.

I appreciate that Michele Izzo traveled from New York to juror the show. Her very careful consideration and selection of the entries made for an interesting and varied exhibition.

It goes without saying that Jack and Diane White, Marv Reinhardt, and the staff at Grace Church made this a very pleasant experience for us.

In addition to the top award winners at the show, Mrs. Wilhemina Craven, a well-known patron of the arts, purchased an additional five paintings, including the following:

- Chinese Vases & Spring Flowers by Sandra Frick - Light and Shadows by Bernice Weinacht - Cool, Clear Water by Riva Brown - Garden Treasures by Dianne Shearon - Morning Glories by Cheryl Wisbrock.

Anne Crown-Cyr
President

Riva Brown’s and Cynthia Swanson’s joint show continues through November at the City County Building, Ninth and French Streets, in Wilmington. Swanson is a watercolor and drawing instructor with the Center for Creative Arts and the Delaware Art Museum as well as Art Coordinator for the Newark Senior Center. Brown is well-known in Wilmington art circles and is a master hand calligrapher whose Living Letters studio executes complex compositions for a variety of clients.

Doris Davis-Glackin had a painting accepted in the National Watercolor Society's 86th Annual Exhibition to be held in Fullerton, California in October. She has been awarded Signature Status in the National Watercolor Society.

Davis-Glackin also had a painting accepted in the Adirondacks 25th Anniversary National Exhibition of American Watercolors, in Old Forge, New York, and was the recipient of the Harold Coopersmith Memorial Award. Another painting was in the Audubon Artists 2006, 64th Annual Exhibition and received the Frank Webb Award for Aquamedia.

Five works by Jo Houtz have been selected for the permanent collection at the nationally known Sheppard & Enoch Pratt Foundation Baltimore, MD. Houtz is delighted with the honor to display her work there.

Donald Blow and Anne Cyr had paintings exhibited in the Perkins Center for the Arts show, Works on Paper, in October in Moorestown, NJ.

Lawrence Pitman's latest works were displayed at the Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club during September and October 2006. He had a wonderful turnout for a beautiful show.

Leslie McCaskill and Anne Crown-Cyr had a joint show entitled, Provence, during August at the Nassau Valley Vineyards and Winery. The paintings represented a trip they took in 2005 to the Vaucluse area of Provence.

Congratulations!

Other Events

A few hardy souls—Earl Abbott, Anne Crown-Cyr, Donna Hansen, Lesley McCaskill, and Sherry Pues-- braved the weather for a paint out in Chesapeake

Cape Artists will host a workshop with Pat Weaver, American Watercolor Society signature member (www.patweaver.net). The workshop will focus on portraying animals in watercolor and is scheduled for January 17-19, 2007 at the Henlopen Grange on Savannah Road in Lewes. The fee is $175 for non-members; $150 for members. Please contact Majorie Weiss at 302-644-7104 for more information.

Watch This Space! In March 2007, the Biggs Museum of American Art and the Delaware Watercolor Society will host the Big Picture multi-media landscape show. The exhibition will be open to all Delaware artists. More information on this event in the winter issue of Hot Press.

I hope everyone is having a great summer and that you are painting a lot. Get your best works ready for our upcoming juried show upcoming show at Grace Church in Wilmington, DE.

Our fall show will be juried by Michele Izzo Croft, who is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and resides in New York. Michele studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and privately with Edgar A. Whitney and Frank Webb. She is listed in Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in American Women.

Her work has been exhibited in five American Watercolor Society International Exhibitions at the Salmagundi Club in New York City, three Traveling Exhibitions of The American Watercolor Society, the 2003 Adirondacks National Exhibition of Watercolors, and the 1989 Midwest Watercolor Society Exhibition. Her paintings are also included in Frank Webb’s book, Strengthen Your Paintings with Dynamic Composition..

Michele has been a signature member of the American Watercolor Society since 1992 and presently serves as its Treasurer and Awards Chairman.

We are looking forward to having Michele select the paintings and awards for our upcoming show.

Anne Crown-Cyr
President

Our July studio workshop with Carolyn Grosse Gawarecki was informative and fun. Each day began with a demonstration and discussion of wet-in-wet techniques.

Sonia Hunt (left) and Bob Chu (center) study Carolyn’s wet-in-wet technique during demonstration.

Over the four days, students focused on landscape effects such as stormy skies, foggy atmospheres, shadow colors, and how to modify color due to morning and afternoon light. Each day began with a demonstration and discussion of wet-in-wet techniques and ended with an afternoon critique of our work.

Students listen and observe during an end-of-day critique.

Thanks to everyone who entered work for our Spring Juried Show. We had about 74 entries and only a dozen were not accepted. I would like to thank Jeanne Mueller, Anne Hanna, Joyce Condry, and Dale Sheldon for helping with the entry process. Dale and I helped juror Gwen Bragg by sorting, hanging, and recording the works.

The results for this show include one Best in Show, five Juror’s Choice and five Honorable Mention awards through the paintings. A list of the winners will appear on our web site the week of the show opening in May.

I hope that everyone will have an opportunity to come to the opening reception at the Rehoboth Art League on May 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. to see all of the final paintings.

Anne Crown-Cyr
President

CONGRATULATIONS TO SPRING SHOW WINNERS Best in Show Anne Hanna, Iris I Juror’s Choice Awards Julie Baxendell, Checking the Nets Doris Ingram, La Mas Alice Kale, Take Five C. Viers Mace, Purple Morn Rosa Vera, Oysterboat Honorable Mention Dorothy Harrison Braun, Winter in Chester County Joyce Condry, Lilies and Sweet Potato Vine Constance Hughes, Special Occasions Dianne Shearon, Delaware Marsh Dale Sheldon, Aqueduct Ruins

We have three workshops scheduled this year. All will take place at the Lewes Grange, Savannah Road, Lewes, DE.

April Workshop

June and July Workshops

Ken Hosmer will teach a five-day, all water-based media, and pastel, workshop on June 5-9, 2006. The workshops include demonstrations and critiques. Ken has a wonderful painting technique using rich and dramatic transparent color. He is an excellent instructor who explains clearly and concisely his painting method while doing his actual painting. His paintings have a bold, spontaneous, and loose quality.

He is a signature member of the Southwestern Watercolor Society as well as an author, lecturer, and instructor.

The cost of Ken’s workshop is $265 for members; $290 for non-members. $100 deposit due by May 10th.

Dapple Gray by Ken Hosmer