Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Pennsylvania Watercolor Society 2008

The 29th Annual PWS show is a very high quality watercolor exhibition. I was fortunate to get the award, because there were tremendous paintings in representational and abstract styles, many of them potential winners in any competition. Other award winners included George James, Denny Bond, Donald Patterson, Ratindra Das, Mel Stabin, and Carole Pickle. Thanks again to PWS, Debi Watson, Gerald Brommer, Jean Uhl Spicer, and the Chester County Art Association. Tokyo Express is on the cover of the catalog.

11 comments:

Sandy Maudlin said...

TOO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to go. VERY HAPPY FOR YOU.

RH Carpenter said...

Congrats, Nick! You're in fine company with that bunch - and you deserve to be right in there with the top artists :)

Nick said...

Sandy,Rhonda - the George James piece is really hot, it was 2nd prize. The Carole Pickle painting is a mindbender, fantastic. Denny Bond has a very interesting entry that is masterfully painted. I think the Mel Stabin is one that got an award at AWS, there's a killer NYC snowscape by James Toogood, a great figure piece by Dottie Burton, and one by Donald Patterson who does nature scenes with amazing realism. Lots of other very strong paintings by people all over the country.

wayne said...

Nick --it's really great of you to acknowledge and pay tribute to all these other artists/competitors! I'm sure they were blown away by YOUR piece!! The judges sure were!!! Keep up the great art:)

You know, you really make me think of you as a kind of 'ambassador' --not just of art, but of artists --buiding bridges, encouraging, and finding *good* things to say, inspiring words and images, colourful 'turns of phrase' and all of these (colours, forms, rhythms, etc) reflected so brilliantly and uniquely in your own art and music.
I could go on...

Nick said...

Wayne, you did go on. :) What can I say except that some people's lives are inextricably controlled by the mysterious forces of art and music, and can't function without giving in to them. You certainly know what I mean, bu you also happen to possess the intellect that can relate it all to the natural world and science; I know there's a link, but I don't have the brain to forge it! I'll probably grind out my days in the quest of my own Unification Theory... and when it gets too confusing I'll look to guys like you and Dake for guidance.
Yeah, I won the award, but you can still kick my ass in w/c no problemo! I could go on.... ;)

wayne said...

To anyone who has followed Nick's art journey in recent months/years, or his music career from a very young age, it is plain to see we have here one VERY modest genius in Nick! The acceleration of Nick's art career is phenomenal. His musical CV is exceptional. Art awards and acclaim are deservedly following in quick succession.

He can move with equal adeptness from visual art to music to writing and to communicating more generally, --all with his dazzling technical and improvisational virtuosity. He has that very rare ability to improvise in a generic sense: in thinking and action. Hence his brilliant interactive wet-in-wet watercolours. ...a Renaissance man... and a VERY humble one at that!!!

Sincere thanks Nick for your kind words. It is TOO kind and generous but very encouraging, and for that, thanks so much. I really think that you and Dake and I (and so many many) are probably 'tuned-in' to a similar waveband and we express this in various ways. Maybe, 'when we imagine', we are viewing an incredible 'interconnectedness' from a kaleidoscope of perspectives. It's all too much for me to put into words. Just as there are not enough numbers to reach infinity, for me there are just not enough words to reach the Interconnectedness accessible to the imagination.

William K. Moore said...

Well deserved Nicholas! You have moved another rung up if not two with this achievemenmt under your belt. As Hendrix sang in his song.. "straight ahead."

Nick said...

Wayne - I did a workshop last weekend, and I wouldn't be surprised if your site gets a lot of hits as a result...just about any question a person has about how something should be painted can be answered by "go to Wayne Roberts' website"! Humble? Around the type of people that I have been fortunate enough to collect as friends, that's the wisest modus operandi! As Pat Metheny has often advised: always try to play with better musicians than yourself.

Bill - ditto re the above. Straight ahead...that's been my motto of late, but there's a lot of crosstown traffic out there!

joel said...

well done! i am particularly impressed that you keep company with such greats as Mel Stabin. you see, his was the first watercolor book i ever bought! he even took the time to make nice comments on some of my very earliest work. so, i like him and his work!

well done Nick.

dbond said...

Hey Nick,

I was just doing a search out there with whatever has my name attached to it (call it vanity if you want), and I came upon your blog site. After having the pleasure of meeting you at the show... and after I looked at the incredible work you had on your site, I was inspired to say the least. I'm sure I'll be seeing more of your work at future shows.
Congrats on the future Watercolor magazine article, they do an exceptional job with text and color correction.
By the way, your email from your site isn't working, comes back as undeliverable.


Thanks for the link.
Denny Bond

Nick said...

Jeol - Mel had a beautiful painting in this show, I think it won an award at AWS.

Denny - I've been blown away by lots of your work, and it was great to finally meet you. I hope we cross paths again, and I'll continue to direct people to your site. (email problems lately, sorry)