Watercolor Postcards from Hahnemuhle.

I've been playing around with some watercolor postcards from Hahnemuehle, and I'm hooked! These 4x6 papers come in adorable collectible tins, and are just the right size to tuck into a pocket or purse to keep on hand for painting on the go. The paper comes in a choice of two surfaces, Cold Pressed and Rough. I keep one tin in my car along with a tin of watercolors and a couple of pocket brushes, for when the mood strikes!

The Cold Pressed paper is fairly smooth and soft, and lightly sized. The watercolor paints soak in and leave soft edges, and yet colors lift fairly well. The paper has very little texture, allowing for finer details when painting. 

The Rough paper has quite a lot of texture. The texture is also very patterned, resembling a woven linen finish. The paper is marvelous for anyone wanting a coarser surface to create texture in their paintings. 

I used both papers with watercolors, ink pens, and masking fluid. The papers held up to heavy washes, although curled when wet. They also withstood my heavy-handed corrections -- lot's of erasing while drawing, and lots of lifting while painting (nobody's perfect, least of all, me). All in all, I really like the postcard paper, and I'll be using more of it in the future. 

new paintings and events!

I'm totally thrilled to announce that I am juried into the 11th Annual Chadds Ford Winter Plein Air! This event is the week after next, and culminates with a reception and sale at the Chadds Ford Historical Society's barn on Saturday, February 9th. Last year it was so cold that I had to paint from inside my car. Let's hope for good weather!

We are one third of the way through my winter semester classes at the Community Arts Center. Here's some of my demos from a couple of those classes: 

These are from lessons on design, composition, color mixing, brush work, values, color theory, pigment properties, substrates, and brushes. 

Exciting news!

To start my news off, let me tell you how EXCITED I am to join the Board of the International Watercolor Society - USA (IWS/USA) as the Regional Director for the Northeast U.S.! I'll be curating juried exhibits in the USA and in other countries around the world, so follow closely to learn the latest details as they emerge!

Annie Strack, teaching a painting workshop on the Mediterranean coast. 

As if I didn't already have enough to do, I also volunteered to join the National Watercolor Society's exhibition team and administer the online entry system for the 2019 NWS International Exhibit. Fortunately, NWS is using the CaFE' platform for their entries, which is super easy to set up and administer. As a show chair, I've used a lot of entry management systems over the years, and I've found CaFE' to be the easiest for show chairs, artists, and jurors. So, the job is actually quite easier than it looks. At least for me, anyway. And I look forward to working with the other Board Members at NWS and joining them at events.

Students in Annie Strack's class

My winter semester classes are now underway a the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. This class meets until March, then I travel off to South Carolina for two back-to-back workshops in Charleston, and then to Maryland for two back-to-back workshops in Ocean City. I think there might still be one space left in one of the workshops in Charleston, if you want to join me!

Annie Strack painting en plein air at Brandywine Battlefield 

In February, I'll be participating in the Chadds Ford Winter Plein Air. Let's all hope for warm and dry weather!! This event can get COLD! I've only signed up for it a few times in the past, and nearly froze to death both times. I'm hoping for temps to be above freezing this year.

Jon L. Seagull, watercolor by Annie Strack

More big news! My painting "Jon L. Seagull" was juried into Rockies West, the Western Colorado Watercolor Society's 29th Annual National Juried Show. The exhibit is March - April in Colorado. 

happy new year!

The New Year is off to a wild start! My studio is a hot mess right now, as I'm preparing to go out painting en plein air with friends this weekend, and packing up my teaching gear to begin my winter semester of classes this week. Add to that, I have paintings in progress to finish up, others that need to be photographed, and others that need to boxed up and shipped off to shows. My book binding equipment is taking up a lot of space right now in my studio as well, as I need to print and bind more copies of my art marketing book for my upcoming art business workshops.

Hopefully I'll have some time soon to finish up more of the paintings that I started during my holiday break. In the meantime, I have to pack up my brushes and palette and to travel to my workshops and classes! 

I almost forgot! Once again, my darling friends at Hahnemuhle sent me some gorgeous new gifts! I love the spiral bound pad of watercolor paper -- perfect for plein air painting. And I can hardly wait to try out the new watercolor postcards in rough texture. Loving the new tote bag, too! The red card in the bottom left corner of the photo is printed on their new metallic paper. My photo of it doesn't do it justice -- it is gives a metallic seen to colors that are printed on it! totally WOWSA!  <3 p="">