President’s Message

“The Good Samaritan” etching by Rembrandt is a black and white composition depicting the good Samaritan standing at the arched stone entrance to a building, talking with the inn keeper.  At the bottom right corner of the 1663 version of this piece is a dog, squatting and dumping his ‘business’ on the ground!  It is well known that Rembrandt had a mischievous sense of humor and introduced it into much of his artwork!

Like Rembrandt, we do best what we are passionate about, and that is certainly true for Sherry Kimmel.  I just attended her water media collage workshop and it is evident that her enthusiasm shows in her wonderful collage paintings.  Whatever sparks our creativity is certainly worth our best efforts.

AWA is fortunate to have so many talented artists who are willing to share their skills with members, whether through teaching workshops or volunteering to help keep our organization viable.  We still have a few positions that remain unfilled, so think about helping out in one of these positions; we need help with the Newsletter Publication and with the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies representative.  Contact Jeremy Jones if you are interested in one of these.

May is our annual member business meeting during which we will be having our election of officers and voting on proposed bylaws changes.  The bylaws changes will be sent via email to members a month before the May meeting.  Please read these carefully so you can be an informed voter at the meeting.

Reminders:

• Keep informed with our activities through our website: https://azwatercolor.com/
• Pay your dues: if you pay at one of our next meetings, you will receive a free raffle ticket for our monthly scholarship drawing!  If you pay after the end of May, you will incur a late fee.

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”  – Andy Warhol

Ruth Philliben, President

Presidents Message

As our organization continues to move forward I hope you are taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities AWA is presenting to you.  There is so much going on right now and, as I was struggling to sort it out, my husband suggested I not forget to have fun.  As always, he helps me get through the chaos and get straight to the point.

“I hope you are loving your art”, he said… “Enjoy it.”  He’s right… I get so busy, it’s easy to forget why I am involved; it’s because I LOVE TO MAKE ART.

So let’s make a toast to making art!  Take a class, teach a class, paint with friends, put a painting in a show, give a painting to a friend.  Celebrate your artistic self.

I also want to encourage you to become familiar with our website:  https://azwatercolor.com/  as this is our main method of communication.  Whether you are looking for Information on Monthly Programs, Workshops, Exhibitions, Membership or Community Outreach you will find what you need there.

It’s also time to pay your dues and sign up for an open Board Member or Committee Chair position.  Think about how you can help AWA.  It takes a community to keep the organization healthy!

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”    – Thomas Merton

Ruth Philliben, President

Presidents Message

As I sit by the ocean (on the island of Kauai), I watch the paddle borders manipulate the waves, looking graceful as they catcha wave and follow it into the shore (well, some of them are graceful). I am studying them with a new viewing point, that is,using the principles of composition described by turn of the century author, Arthur Wesley Dow. Arthur Dow was inspired by Japanese art, especially the prolific Hiroshige Ando. In his book, he suggests a number of exercises focusing first on line, then on notan (light and dark) and finally color. Photos of exercises pictured in his book remind me of the Polynesian art found so often herein Kauai. One of my favorite places Havaiki, a gallery featuring a world of Hawaiian, Polynesian, Melanesian & Oceanic art. Check out the website: https://www.havaikiart.com/

During social hour at our February AWA meeting we will be able to view last years WFWS show accepted entries that were exhibited at The Jordan Snitxer Museum in Oregon, with over 100 wonderful paintings from our western 11states!!

From Lynda Burruss

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

TICKETS FOR THE AWA COMMUNITY OUTREACH RAFFLE ARE AVAILABLE AT AWA GENERAL MEETINGS , JANUARY THRU APRIL . TICKETS MAY ALSO BE PURCHASED BY MAIL. THE PRICE IS $10 FOR ONE TICKET OR $20 FOR THREE TICKETS. PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT THE ART PROGRAM AT FRANK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN GUADALUPE, AZ.

THE PRIZE IS A TWO DAY JUROR’S WORKSHOP!

To purchase tickets by mail, send your request, payment and a self addressed, stamped envelope to C. Diane Parnitzke, 12712 S. 177th Ave., Goodyear, AZ 85338. Make check out to AWA. Be sure to write AWA Community Outreach on the memo line. Also, please write AWA Community Outreach on the bottom front of the envelope.

Tickets will be sold at each meeting through MAY 10th when the drawing will take place. The prize is for a two day Juror Workshop given in the AWA year 2018-2019. For email requests, payment must be received by MAY 9th for raffle entry eligibility.

WE ARE STILL REQUESTING DONATIONS OF ART ITEMS AND CASH TO PURCHASE  ADDITIONAL ART SUPPLIES FOR THE K THRU 5 CHILDREN.

PLEASE HELP MAKE THIS OUTREACH A SUCCESS.

Here we are kicking off our new season with the magnificent 2017 Fall Exhibition running from September 16th through October 14th at the Scottsdale Artists’ School. We had a wonderful field of entries from our membership that I’m sure gave our esteemed juror, Anne Abgott, some hard choices as she selected the show. Thanks to all who sent entries and remember, if you didn’t make it into this show you can enter your work again as long as it was completed within three years of the exhibition date, and a special congratulations to all first-time exhibitors!
Please make every effort to take in this beautiful exhibition by visiting the SAS located at 3720 North Marshall Way in Scottsdale. Hours are Monday –Friday, 8:30-5 pm and Saturday, 8:30- noon and 1-4 pm.
Because Ms. Abgott will be with us during the final week of our exhibition giving her workshops, we will be adding our artist awards reception to our regular monthly meeting on October 12th. You will be able to see the award winning paintings and hear from Anne herself as she explains the reasons they were selected from the field to receive these awards. Anne will be giving a demo that night too, so be sure to add this date to your calendar, so you won’t miss out on a unique evening of fun and art. Your fellow artists receiving awards that night will appreciate your support too. And if that weren’t enough, there will be lots of yummy treats available for the celebration. See you all there!
– – Submitted by: Jane Underill, Exhibitions Director

We are very excited to be updating our website.  Be sure to check back periodically over the summer to stay up to date on news and events as our planning unfolds.  Please click through the site in accordance with your interests or specific to your assigned tasks and give us feedback with regards  to what needs to be adjusted  / updated.

We hope you are having a great summer.
Keep cool and have an inspired month!

President’s Message

News from the Board:
It’s amazing how quickly the year passes; we have only one more meeting before we take our summer hiatus. Our May meeting will be busy with the annual general membership meeting (voting in board members; voting for bylaws changes); presentation of our student scholarship award winner and critique of member’s artwork.  please bring one of your paintings for this critique.
The board will be meeting in June to transition positions and discuss moving forward. Many plans for next year are already in place; check the website for more information.  Programs, workshops and at least one exhbition are already scheduled.
We will be discussing other ways in which we can reach out and make ourselves visible to the community.
I wish to thank all the Board Members, Committee Chairs and myriad of other volunteers for their contributions to making this year so successful. Some of these members are very visible, other members are not so visible, but without all those actions, our organization would not run smoothly. I also want to thank the Nominating Committee for procuring Board Members and Committee Chairs for next year.
I am proud to serve as your President for another year. I have learned so much about our organization and so many members have helped me along the way.  Thank you!

Ruth Philliben