The Northwest Watercolor Society (NWWS) 80th Annual International Open Exhibition is live now through February 1, 2021 at www.nwws.org.
Internationally known juror Ron Stocke awarded first place of $2,000 cash to Dongfeng Li for his painting, “A Breath of Fresh Air.”
“He paints with a brush in one hand and a foam roller in the other,” Stocke said of Li, “and he builds up these lovely formed paintings. Just master class.” Li was born and raised in China but moved to the U.S. in 1992 and is an associate professor of art at Morehead State University in Kentucky.
Second place of $1,300 went to Janine Helton of St. Charles, Missouri for her painting, “Bubbly.” At the virtual awards reception October 30th, Stocke said, “There’s one thing about portraits I particularly look at – does the painting capture the personality and soul of that person.” Stocke went on to say he didn’t know the person in “Bubbly” but felt like he does now “simply by looking at Janine’s painting.”
Karen Mai, based in Hong Kong, received $800 for her 3rd place award of “Nap at the Sawmill.”
“This is what watercolor is all about,” Stocke said. “The values, the shapes, the lines, the perspective, the composition – everything about this painting is working.”
NWWS congratulates these top three winners along with 12 other winners in the exhibition. Ron Stocke had his work cut out for him to narrow 674 entries from 38 states and 12 countries, down to 75 paintings.
To hear Ron Stocke’s own words on why he chose each watermedia painting and to see the exhibition please go to www.nwws.org.
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