plein air events

 The past few months have been a whirlwind of plein air events and juried exhibits. Last week I was in southern Delaware for the Dover Plein Air, where it rained buckets and was very cold. The sun came out on the final day, and so did thick clouds of gnats that stuck to everyone's wet oils and pretty much ruined all of the oil paintings in the exhibit, which was held on the lawn of the Dover Art Museum. I only did one small oil painting so my loses weren't too bad. I also turned in two 8x10 watercolor on panels. 

7x5 oil Dover Door, 10x8 WC Capitol, 8x10 WC #7

Annie Strack painting in the Dover Plein Air

The previous week I helped set up the Unionville Country Fair and then afterwards I judged the art entries. I've been doing this every year for about 10 years now, and it's one of my favorite things to do! It's a rare opportunity to meet fellow artists in this community. 

Annie with fellow art exhibit jurors at the Unionville Fair

In between all these plein air events, I'm busy shipping off more paintings to juried shows around the country. My painting "Toes in the Water" just won the M. Graham & Co. Award in the North East Watercolor Society show in Connecticut. 

Toes in the Water, 14x 20 WC

and my painting "Fishing Buddies" was just shipped off to the American Artists Professional League Grand National at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. 

Fishing Buddies, 12x16 watercolor

My painting "Fire and Ice" will be delivered to the Philadelphia Watercolor Society 122nd International Show next week.

Fire and Ice, 12x16 watercolor

Oh, and I almost forget to tell you! 

This Friday is the Annual Meeting of the National Watercolor Society. We will be voting for Officers and Directors at this meeting, and I'm on the Ballot as the new Website Director. I've been training for this position under the tutelage of the current Director, in addition to working on both the Members show and the International Show for the past year. The NWS is a huge international organization with thousands of members. I'm really looking forward to joining the Board and working with the largest artist society in the world!