American Watercolor Masters -- Chris Krupinski

Cooking with Wine, 30" x 22"

Although Chris Krupinski has been drawing and painting all of her life, watercolor became her passion after she discovered the medium in the mid-1980s, and she is widely regarded as a brilliant watercolorist. Dynamic light and shadow treatments are prominent in her paintings, and by focusing much of her attention on the smallest details, the viewer is drawn into the intricacies of her work. These two elements have enabled her to create powerfully expressive still lifes and bold compositions.

Lemons and a Lime, 22" x 30"

Clementines and Pitcher, 30" x 22"

Chris has continually drawn rave reviews for her fine art work, winning nearly 100 national awards and honors. She is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, Rocky Mountain Watercolor Society, Allied Artists, and the American Artist's Professional League, to name a few. Chris was one of 26 "American masters" invited to the prestigious Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary International Watermedia Masters in Nanjing, China in both November 2007 and May 2010. She has been published in major watercolor publications, has been a featured artist in numerous leading national art magazines and is consistently included in Marquis' Who's Who Internationally, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who Among American Women.

Apples, Stripes, and Jar, 30" x 22"

Pears and a Glass, 30" x 22"

Please go to Chris's website to see more of her exquisite watercolors.

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Geoffrey McCormack

Reina de la Costa, 22" x 30"

Labelled an "abstract naturalist" by a fellow artist, Geoffrey McCormack was influenced early in his career by the trompe l'oeil painters and, later, the new photo realists. He works in series with the goal of fully exploring an idea -- both in terms of seeing common objects in a new light and in relation to the formal aspects of art-making: composition, value, color, etc. He has been working with his "String Theory Series" for more than 20 years and the concept has become an integral part of his symbolism.

Three Rivers: Rock Dance on Hunter Creek, 22" x 30"

The Three Rivers series came about by a wonderful accident. Geoffrey relates, "While printing a copy of an earlier series, there were multiple printer errors which produced a rough triptych. I liked this accidental format and added it to other reference scraps pinned to my studio wall.

"Several months later, as I was thinking about the parameters for a new series, my eyes landed upon the accidental triptych. Incorporated with the stones, sticks, string and shallow space of my Greek series, the new series would refer to the rivers of Western Oregon and these waterways would be the source for forms, materials, colors and perhaps regional or universal detritus.

"When combined, these elements work on many levels: as materials and objects that give a sense of place and as forms that cast shadows describing volume and shallow space. The manmade objects set scale, time or action. For example the strings can be seen as compositional tool that delineates two dimensional space and at the same time casts a shadow describing the three dimensions of the object it falls on. They are also reference to archeological digs and an investigation over time."

Three Rivers: The Rogue, 22" x 30"

Three Rivers: Yellow Twig, 22" x 30"
watercolor and fluid acrylic

With an MA in sculpture, Geoffrey has taught college courses in both two- and three-dimensional art. He has been increasingly active on the national watercolor scene over the past few years and his painting "Red Twig" – from the Three Rivers Series – was honored with the Purchase Award with Silver Star (Best in Show) at the National Watercolor Society exhibition in 2009.

Rocky Point, 22" x 30"

Please visit Geoffrey's website to see more of his work and get information on his workshops.

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Deb Ward

Blue Pitcher and Pears on Lace, 16" x 20"
fluid acrylic

It was the luminosity of watercolor that first drew Deb Ward to the medium. She got a late start on a painting career when she left the 9 to 5 work world in 1996 and fulfilled a long-held dream of learning to paint in watercolor. In 2004, she began teaching watercolor classes and, over the following years, she broadened her painting horizons by teaching herself to paint with fluid acrylics and casein. She now works in all three media.

Tulip Shadows, 21" x 28"
watercolor

Deb observes, "I love color and strive for striking, sunlit images.... My work rarely involves an actual figure, but often implies the human element." She often paints in series -- working from her own photo references to explore similar subjects or ideas in a realistic manner. Although she is always on the lookout for subjects when she's out and about, Deb has an ongoing series of simple still lifes incorporating glass and ceramic objects that belonged to her mother, as well as quilts and tablecloths made by her grandmother. She paints in her home studio and also enjoys a weekly painting date with friends.

Pink Peony, 21" x 29"
fluid acrylics

Wild Roses, 21" x 28"
watercolor

Deb is active in a number of local art groups in southeastern Indiana and the Cincinnati area; she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Art Club in addition to being the Chairperson for ViewPoint, a national exhibition sponsored by the club. She teaches classes for several organizations in her area and also gives workshops on technique in her home studio. She has shown her work in local, regional, and national exhibitions and has received numerous awards. In October 2008, she wrote an article about casein painting "Cay-What?" for CreateBetterPaintings.com -- Online Magazine for Artists, and in 2010, her work was published in The Best of America -- Watermedia, Volume II (Kennedy Publishing).

Muncie's Pride, 14" x 20"
watercolor

Go to Deb's blog to get the latest news from her studio.

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Susanne Clark

Prickly Heat, 14" x 14"

Being a painter has transformed the way Susanne Clark views and interprets her surroundings -- nothing looks the same as it did 5 or 10 years ago. In her experience, the artist’s eye is an adaptive one, always changing its way of seeing and portraying the world, and she is moved to paint when light, shadow and color come together in a dynamic way that captures her imagination. She finds working with transparent watercolor is like solving a series of puzzles -- how to get a certain texture, what pigments to mix for an unusual color, whether to add water -- a process she enjoys.

Pure Honey, 12" x 10"

P is for Pumpkin, 18" x 12"

Although she is self-taught, Susanne has taken workshops with Tom Francesconi, Karen Knutson, and Donna Jill Witty, expanding her skills in diverse ways through their workshops. She paints primarily from photos, but believes that good draftsmanship is of utmost importance, so she regularly practices sketching from life. Recent work with pastels has also been rewarding, but the sublime interaction of brush, paper, water, and pigment always draws her back to watercolor.

Don't Forget the Onions, 6" x 6"

Susanne began painting in the late 1990s and has been juried into national exhibitions with the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, the Northwest Watercolor Society, the Wyoming Watercolor Society, the Richeson 75, and the Maryland Federation of Art, as well as numerous exhibitions in the Chicago area. She is a signature member of the Illinois Watercolor Society, the Northwest Watercolor Society, and the Wyoming Watercolor Society. She is represented by the Old Courthouse Arts Center in Woodstock, IL.

Snooze, 11" x 15"

Go to Susanne's gallery page on the Illinois Watercolor Society website to see more of her work.

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Debbie Cannatella

You've Got Mail, 20" x 22"

As much as Debbie Cannatella admires watercolor techniques that show soft abstractions and seem to flow with wild abandon, her natural style is to paint tight and detailed realistic works and to incorporate well-defined geometric shapes in her non-objective works. A 25-year career as a senior highway designer is evidenced in her love of geometry, linear movement, and linking pathways.

Old Salt, 32" x 26"

Debbie began painting in watercolors at the age of 15 and has developed her skills through reading, painting, participating in critique groups, and taking workshops with artists she admires. As a norm, she works in transparent watercolor, occasionally using acrylic in a transparent manner. She works from still-lifes, photos, and sketches; lately she has been incorporating more symbols and imagery in her work, weaving a story as she paints.

Shooting for the Stars, 32" x 26"

Aloha, 38" x 30"

Frequent moves required by her husband's career have taken Debbie from large, busy, gallery-filled cities to a small town where she spearheaded the development of an arts coalition and fine art gallery, and back to a major urban center. With each move, she finds the local watercolorists and builds her niche in the community. She has taught workshops and private classes and is active in numerous local arts organizations wherever she lives. A signature member of the Louisiana Watercolor Society, her work appears in Chris Unwin's book Artistic Touch 4 (2010).

Grapes Durand, 32" x 26"

Please visit Debbie's blog to learn more about her work and follow her profile link to her website.

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Susan Abbott

Fleet Summer, 40" x 60"

In Susan Abbott's view, one thing all artists have in common is a love of "just making things." She grew up in a family that encouraged her early interest in both art and crafts and she dropped out of high school in her hurry to get to art school. Although she never took watercolor classes, she began concentrating on transparent watercolor early in her career, attracted to its vibrant color and spontaneity. During the 1980s and 90s, she focused on large-scale, complex works combining still life, landscape, decorative patterns, and graphic elements into unique compositions that joined intense realism with abstract design.

Fruits and Fields, Provence, 15" x 22" (diptych)

Piero and Pitchers, 22" x 30"

Susan also uses watercolor in plein air landscape painting. In her words, "Rather than constructing a still life over a span of weeks, a plein air landscape requires immediate decisions, emotion, gesture, and being 'in the moment' with a medium. I love this. In many ways, I find working quickly outdoors more challenging than building a painting slowly in the studio." Although she paints watercolor landscapes on her frequent travels to teach workshops, she is currently doing studio work in oils on a series of multi-panel still lifes and landscapes and finds that her long use of transparent watercolor has changed her approach to oils.

Clouds Over Lavender, 14" x 14"

Susan graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA and MFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art and has worked as a professional artist since then -- exhibiting in galleries and museums around the country. She has taught watercolor classes at MICA as well as teaching workshops in Europe, India, and the U.S. Her work has been featured in Watercolor Artist (cover story, October 2009) and The Artist's Magazine (January 2010) in addition to many other publications including The Washington Post, American Artist, International Artist, and Watercolor Magazine; she has also been featured on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show and the Oprah Winfrey Show. She has been the recipient of grants from the Vermont and Maryland Arts Councils and of numerous private and public painting commissions, and her work is represented in numerous corporate and individual collections.

Vista, Joucas, Provence, 14" x 20"

Please go to Susan's website for more information on her paintings, workshops, and two popular blogs.

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Cindy Agan

Sisters, 15" x 24"

"My art career started with a box of crayons and a coloring book at the age of three and I have been honing my skills ever since!"

With the exception of a beginner's course, Cindy Agan is self-taught in watercolor, and being detail-oriented, she prefers a realistic approach to her subjects. Her work is influenced by interests that bring her joy -- people, animals, flower gardening, antiques, wine tastings, and architectural details -- and her paintings depicting children have been described as "evocative of Norman Rockwell." She favors a predominantly warm palette, applying numerous glazes of highly concentrated paint to achieve the intense and vibrant color characteristic of her work.

When I Grow Up, 15" x 24"

Cindy is the author of Painting Watercolors That Sparkle with Life (North Light Books) and a companion DVD, an excerpt of which has been included in 10 Top Painting Tips -- a DVD featuring artists from around the world. Her work has appeared in Splash: The Best of Watercolor -- books 6, 7, 9, and 10 -- and will be included in Splash 12 (release date, 2011). Her paintings have also been featured in A Celebration of Light: Painting the Textures of Light in Watercolor, Drawing and Painting People: The Essential Guide, and in two books in the Painters Quick Reference Series -- Birds & Butterflies, and Cats & Dogs.

A Moment in Time, 20" x 16"

Garden Angel, 23" x 15"

Her work hangs in numerous private and corporate collections in the U.S. and U.K. In addition, she has been juried into national and international shows and has won many awards. She is a signature member of the Louisiana Watercolor Society and recently won the President's Award at their 2010 Exhibition. Cindy is also a popular workshop instructor who teaches throughout the U.S. and Canada. She will be teaching at Art in the Mountains in Bend, Oregon this July.

Napa Merlot, 26" x 18"

Please go to Cindy's website to see more of her work and get more information about her art activities.

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Paula Fiebich

Venetian Gold, 23" x 30"

"I am visually creating in my head all the time. My art, my creativity has been with me since I arrived on the planet. It has taken many different forms along the way to evolve to its present day expressions."

Paula Fiebich has been making art for many years, but within the last five years, it has evolved to a greater level of awareness. She finds inspiration for her paintings in many different areas -- from a simple swirl of pattern in hand-blown glass to a classic masterpiece in a museum, from a bike ride on a local path to a stroll through the streets of Venice. She is particularly fond of the art and design of France and Italy and much of her work reflects things that have inspired her during travel in those two countries. Her eye observes the patterns in fabric, papers, and the abstract qualities in objects, and her love of color and detail shows prominently in her work.

Pierrot, 24" x 18"

Afterglow, 23" x 30"

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Paula has become a nationally and internationally recognized watercolor artist since winning the Gold Medal at the American Watercolor Society show in 2007. Although watercolor has always been her medium of choice in the fine arts, she has also worked in the commercial art world as a staff artist in the toy and craft industry and in the automotive industry, working in the design studios for General Motors. She recently returned to school to specialize in digital media and communication arts.

Hotel de Paris, 30" x 23"

In addition to her success in the American Watercolor Society exhibit, Paula's work has been accepted into National Watercolor Society and Transparent Watercolor Society of America exhibits. She has been published in Watercolor Artist magazine, and will be featured this year in Splash 11 (North Light Books) and in International Artist magazine.

Sentinels, 40" x 26"

Please visit Paula's blog to learn more about her work.

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David Poxon

Heavy Metal, 12" x 17"

David Poxon explains a recurring theme in his work in these words, "I find inspiration in quiet corners of our world, which for a few brief moments have taken on a deeper significance to me. The commonplace or the overlooked become my subject materials as nature slowly reclaims that which man has abandoned or cast aside, creating a fragile beauty which is ever changing." Drawing inspiration from light, atmosphere, and subtle ambient effects, he finds a renewed connection between object and environment. He paints in pure watercolor, using a painstaking multi-glaze technique with up to 17 layers of transparent paint, each delicately modulating the colors beneath, and he preserves the natural paper for the whites in his paintings.

Bolts, 12" x 17"

Pots, 12" x 12"

David originally trained in Brighton, England but then followed a successful music industry career before returning to his first love -- art -- some years ago. He has won numerous awards and has a growing international reputation for his mastery of pure watercolor. His work has been exhibited at the Mall Galleries, Bankside Gallery - London, the Royal Birmingham Society, The Royal Cambrian Academy, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and many regional public and private galleries in the UK and USA. In 2008, he won the Still Life prize at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, and he was elected a member of the Royal Institute in 2010. He is one of 20 international watercolor artists invited to exhibit at the Shanghai Biennial in 2010 and will have a solo exhibition in the same venue following the biennial. He has contributed many articles to the art magazine press and is the author of two best-selling books on drawing techniques which were released worldwide in 2008. His work is increasingly collected both at home and overseas.

Shed, 12" x 17"

Big Barn Door, 12" x 17"

Please visit David's website to learn more about him and to see more of his work.

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Kaaren Oreck

Arigato Makoto, 21" x 28"

When she discovered watercolor in 1989, Kaaren Oreck finally felt she had found the perfect medium for her work. In her words, "Watercolor is a medium that is just as beautiful three inches away as it is across the room." Travels and exhibitions in Japan have provided much of her current inspiration -- many wonderful complex patterns seem to combine with beautiful simplicity in Japanese life. And flowers, always an inspiration, seem more highly treasured in Wisconsin because of the long winters. Whether her subject matter comes from just around the corner or from halfway around the world, she feels that watercolor can portray the color of the world in its brightest light and darkest shadow with equal excitement.

Geisha #3, 28" x 16"

After she has taken photo images that are interesting and exciting to her, Kaaren manipulates them to eliminate the extraneous details and develop those that will convey what she has envisioned. She uses a very limited palette to create unity in her paintings, working in many transparent layers on both wet and dry paper.

Still-life Impressions of Japan, 18" x 27"

Kaaren lived in many parts of the country before moving to Madison, Wisconsin, where she currently resides. After getting a BS in nursing from Boston University, she began taking every available art class, whether college courses or private. A friend jokingly called Kaaren "the queen of workshops," but she feels very fortunate to have studied with so many wonderful teachers. Her paintings have been juried into numerous exhibitions in Wisconsin and across the country and have won many awards. She is a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society, the Louisiana Watercolor Society, and the Wisconsin Watercolor Society, as well as a member of several other art societies, with professional status in Wisconsin Visual Artists. She also has served as a board member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America (TWSA). In 2005, Kaaren was selected as the featured artist for WHA -- Wisconsin Public Television -- and her paintings are included in Pouring Transparent Watercolors by Jean Grastorf and The Artistic Touch 4 by Chris Unwin.

Colors of Nature, 18" x 29"

Serendipity, 20" x 27"

Please visit Kaaren's website to see more of her work.

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