Hello and Welcome, everyone!

The 44th annual juried exhibition is again a beautiful representation of the commitment and talent of watercolor artists who entered this year. Thank you to the juror of selection Soon Young Warren and the juror of awards E. Jane Stoddard.  Your choices from so many paintings entered or selected could not have been a simple task.

Again, we bring you the 2023 exhibit through digital technology this year but want to tell you in advance, next year’s 45th international exhibit will be at the Lancaster Museum of Art in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Watch for prospectus information to come out around May 2024.

My personal thanks go out to PWS Vice President, Jeannine Swartz who had the responsibility of being the sole chairperson of the juried show.  When someone works a full-time job and then takes extra time to organize and coordinate the intake it takes dedication. Jeannine, your commitment is admirable and beyond amazing. Many thanks to Nick Mohler for setting up the 2023 photo album for the exhibit.  A special thank you goes to the numerous corporate sponsors and the friends of PWS for their contributions in cash, gift cards and materials this year.  Feel free to share the link with everyone you know and remember to thank the sponsors.

My sincere thanks go to Helen Canfield who was diligent and successful locating and personally contacting the many sponsors to obtain materials and gift cards that will be awarded and for hers and others’ donations as the “friends of PWS award”, and to Gay Dunn for the creation of the individual awards certificates. Thanks also to Pam Wenger who obtained the juror’s comments on the top award winners and assembled the YouTube awards presentation. 

Congratulations to all the exhibitors and award winners. Best wishes to those who entered the show this year but didn’t “get in”. All paintings accepted will be shown on the slideshow presentation on the website pawcs.com for everyone to see and purchase if available. To share the photo album of the 44th annual juried exhibition, just click the link at the top of the address bar on the website’s photo album page and send the link to everyone you know.  The more clicks, the better!  It’s worthy of praise to show off what’s been accomplished!

It takes special people who want to be on the board of directors and committees.  They assist in the management and direction of all activities of the past, present and future of PWS. Thank you to the Friends of PWS for your on-going support and contributions again to the exhibition’s cash awards.

Thanks for your confidence in me.

Linda R Young, President

Letter from Juried Show Chairperson

Congratulations to everyone selected for the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society 44th Annual International Juried Exhibition. Enjoy the breathtaking exhibit in this catalog and in our virtual gallery at our website www.pawcs.com.

PWS received a total of 456 exceptional paintings for consideration from 34 states and 15 countries. We appreciate the time and the careful consideration our jurors devoted to reviewing the applications. It was a difficult task indeed! Our spectacular exhibition includes the 100 works chosen by Juror of Selection Soon Y Warren. We are equally pleased to present the 25 awards chosen by Juror of Awards E Jane Stoddard.

Thank you to everyone who had a hand in making the exhibit possible, with special thanks to PWS President Linda R. Young, Membership Chair Anni Matsick, Awards Committee Chair Helen Canfield, Webmaster Nick Mohler, and the entire PWS Board of Directors.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to those who donated to awards and to the catalog printing. Your support is vital to presenting this top-quality show.

Cheers to another successful International Juried Exhibition! We look forward to seeing your entries next year!

Best regards,

Jeannine Swartz
PWS Juried Show Chairperson

Awards

• #1 Lana Privitera - 1st Place
• #2 Ken Call - 2nd Place
• #3 Roberta Oliver - 3rd Place
• #4 Maria Apokorin - 4th Place
• #5 Bev Jozwiak - PWS Board Award
• #6 Mick McAndrews - President's Award
• #7 Laurie Goldstein-Warren - Denny Bond Memorial Award
• #8 Z Feng - r. mike nichols Friend of PWS Award in Memory of Joan Coffey and Philadelphia Watercolor Society Award
• #9 Chris Krupinski - Gary Sausser Friend of PWS Award in Memory of Mary Jane Sausser
• #10 Richard Tiejun Chao - Beth Slagle Friend of PWS and Ginny Crawford Friend of PWS Award
• #11 Jan Min - Helen Canfield Friend of PWS Award in Memory of Marney Lappley and Pittsburgh Watercolor Society Award
• #12 Kathleen Giles - Linda Young Friend of PWS Award and Baltimore Watercolor Society Award
• #13 Alexis Lavine - Vivienne Cameron Friend of PWS and Free Spirit Watercolor Class Honoring Jeanne Hartman Award
• #14 Nel Dorn Byrd - Dixon Ticonderoga Award
• #15 Don Watson - West Charlton Frame Company, Winsor & Newton, Silver Brush Limited, and Blick Art Materials Award
• #16 Catherine O'Neill - Holbein, Jerry's Artarama, Qor Golden Artist Award
• #17 Jenny Davis - Dr. Ph. Martin, Blick Art Materials, Hahnemühle Paper, Silver Brush Limited Award
• #18 Richard William Haynes - Jack Richeson & Co. Inc., Blick Art Materials, Jerry's Artarama, Dr. Ph. Martin
• #19 Larry Hughes - Jerry's Artarama, Air Float Systems, Daniel Smith Award
• #20 Sih Shian Wu - M. Graham Award
• #21 Dongfeng Li - Cheap Joe's Art Stuff, Paint Tube Award
• #22 Richard Ressel - Silver Brush Limited, Legion Paper, Chroma, Inc. Award
• #23 Shirley Kleppe - Blick Art Materials, Dr. Ph. Martin, Jerry's Artarama Award
• #24 Andrew Arkell - Art Depot, Silver Brush Limited, Jerry's Artarama Award
• #25 Christine Misencik-Bunn - Blick Art Materials, Jerry's Artarama, American Frame Award

OUR JURORS

JUROR OF SELECTION STATEMENT
SOON Y. WARREN

“It was an honor to view so many beautiful paintings and so impressed with the talents and creativity in the entries. I congratulate every participant who shares their talents with the public. I always love to see and enjoy paintings by colleagues. Unfortunately, I must select numbered paintings and must let go of so many beautiful others. As all understand as I am your colleague, sometimes it happens to be in other times not.

I love seeing paintings that have passion which I call attitude, bad or good. All the elements play within the picture plane, strong composition, expression of color, confident draftsmanship, or any combination of these elements. Witnessing the unique perspective of each artist, with emphasis on surprising aspects of otherwise ordinary subject matter, is always invigorating and inspirational. I appreciate how and why one paints rather than what one paints. My goal is to approach each painting with a fresh mind, without any preconceived prejudice, to minimize permeating the bias and subjectivity of human nature on the selection process. I appreciate anyone who dares to put their heart on the paper to share with others as I try to do every painting. Keep painting and find the joy of life!”

Sincerely,

Soon Y. Warren

JUROR OF SELECTION: Soon Y. Warren AWS, NWS is a full-time artist, teacher, and national and international workshop instructor with an associate degree in commercial art. She is the recipient of many awards and is a signature member of National Watercolor Society (NWS), American Watercolor Society (AWS), Southern Watercolor Artist (SW), Texas Watercolor Society Purple Sage Brush (TWS), Transparent Watercolor Society (TWSA) and more.

Her paintings and articles have been widely published in books and magazines and she has created 7 instructional DVDs. To find out more about Soon Y. visit her website www.soonwarren.com.

JUROR OF AWARDS STATEMENT
E. JANE STODDARD

“It was my honor and privilege to be asked to Juror Awards for the Pennsylvania International Exhibition of Watercolor 2023. Originally an oil painter, that ultimately shaped my method for painting in watercolor, I look for strong drawing skills, strong composition, shift in value and strong color. I am not drawn to “wishy washy” paintings.

Regardless of my own style, I found in evaluating the paintings, I appreciated every style and looked for good technical skills- also the painting had to speak to me.

Soon Y Warren selected a wonderful show with a wide variety of subjects and techniques. Every painting in the show deserved to be there and it was extremely difficult to pick the winners. I began with an overview initially and some paintings “jumped out” at me, but when I re-evaluated my initial selections, my feelings had changed. My final selections did match my criteria, were well done and most of all evoked a strong concept.

It was a unique experience to be Awards Juror and evaluate the work of so many distinguished artists. Congratulations to the award winners, but each and every painting made for a spectacular show.”

Sincerely,

E Jane Stoddard

JUROR OF AWARDS: E. Jane Stoddard NWS, TWSA-MA has enjoyed a passion for art as long as she can remember. Even back to the time when her favorite medium was a box of crayons and poster paper. Jane perfected the transition from oil to watercolor, deciding to forget most of the “rules” and develop her own style. Following her heart, she learned to work in a highly detailed way by using transparent color to layer and glaze to achieve intense darks. Her chosen subjects are usually determined by a great shift in value.

Throughout her journey, Jane has been fortunate to be accepted to many juried shows and is the recipient of more than 45 national awards. Jane is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, and many others. For more information about Jane and her accomplishments visit www.janestoddard.com.