Category Archives: Administration

Administration, Art News, Local Events, Resources for Members, Shows

With Thanks!

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A reminder that Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is found online at www.CVWG.art.

Westminster Canterbury Exhibit Until Dec 31

The CVWG water media exhibit at Westminster Canterbury will be hung on December 1 through 31. CVWG is represented by thirty member-artist paintings. Due to COVID protocols in place at this care facility, opportunities to view our show are limited. Your one and only opportunity to view our show will be on December 2 when member-artist Chee Ricketts is set to give a live demonstration.

Chee Rickett’s Demonstration at Westminster Canterbury

Fortunately for CVWG, member-artist Chee Ricketts has been chosen to present a live demonstration at Westminster Canterbury toward the beginning of our exhibit on December 2 at 2:30 PM. CVWG members will be allowed to attend. You must wear a mask when on the property. Drive up to the gatehouse where the guard will take your temperature, ask the usual COVID-19 questions, provide directions to get to the Gallery Walk and the Rotunda Room. The map, below, might help guide you.

WCBR Site Plan notated 3Download

I encourage you to come, not only because Chee is a wonderful teacher, but also it may be the only time you will be able to view the entire show. For those of you who are new to the guild, Chee is a past president, past annual show chair, past newsletter chair, and has given workshops to CVWG. We are very grateful and proud to have her volunteer to represent us at WCBR. Hope you can make it on Dec. 2.

Linda Verhagen, CVWG’s Exhibit Chair

Beverley Street Studio’s “30 Artists x 30 Days”

Member-Artist Susan Rosen sends in a timely notice about the “30 Artist x 30 Days” fundraiser for the Beverley Street Studio School in Staunton. Says Susan,

For a $30 donation you will receive an email each day for 30 days with an essay from an artist about a piece of art that has inspired them. An image of that art and an image of their own work will be included. I am happy to be one of the 30 artists this year! I will be writing about Richard Diebenkorn, a 20th century painter from the California Figurative School. These subscriptions are a great gift idea for your friends and family who appreciate art…… buy one for yourself too!

Go to Beverley Street Studio’s website (www.bssschool.org) to purchase and donate.

Courthouse Exhibit Through June 2022

Many thanks to our Courthouse Team for facilitating the installation of our new and long awaited exhibit at the Albemarle County Courthouse! CVWG’s exhibit will be available for the public to view thru June 2022. We’re very grateful to the twelve artists who participated in the show exhibiting16 beautiful paintings.

So, come down to the Albemarle County Courthouse at 501 Jefferson St in Charlottesville and check out our lovely exhibit. Each painting is labeled and sales may be made by contacting the artist direct.

Carolyn Ratcliffe, CVWG’s Courthouse Committee Chair

Membership for 2022

Our Membership Chair, Rosemary Connelly emails:

The 2022 annual dues will be $25.00 for a single membership and $30 for a family of two, minimum age 18. Make checks payable to CVWG and send with our membership form at this link to:

Robin Kuzen, CVWG Treasurer, 848 St. Charles Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22902

If your contact information changes during the year, please notify Rosemary Connelly. Changes in email addresses are particularly important as emails are the principal way for officers and other members to contact you.

Let Us Hear From You!

Drop our CVWG Webmaster an email to let everyone know what you are doing and how your artist journey is progressing.

Administration, Call for Entries, Classes/Workshops, Local Events, Member news, Monthly Meetings, Resources for Members, Shows

Giving Thanks While Hoping for a Brighter Future!

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A reminder that Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is found online at www.CVWG.art.

As we enter late autumn of 2021, we give thanks for all the blessings and grace in our lives. We rejoice that our Guild has adapted to the year’s special challenges and recognize our leaders for their works on our behalf.

Final Member Meeting of 2021– Oct 25

Our Guild held its final member meeting of 2021 on Monday, October 25 with a full program of refreshments, social time, a short business meeting, the Challenge! show, and a program. Our guest artist leading our program was Eleanor Cox. You can read about Eleanor in our last post and see her art on her website, https://eleanorcox.com/.

While, in “normal” years, we would enjoy a pot luck luncheon, the CVWG Board decided that posed too much of a health risk for our members so that event is not planned. Our next in-person meeting will be January 24, 2022. Look for more details in the coming weeks.

Membership for 2022

Our Membership Chair, Rosemary Connelly emails:

Starting in 2022, annual dues will be $25.00 for a single membership and $30 for a family of two, minimum age 18. Make checks payable to CVWG and send with our membership form at this link to:

Robin Kuzen, CVWG Treasurer, 848 St. Charles Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22902

If your contact information changes during the year, please notify Rosemary Connelly. Changes in email addresses are particularly important as emails are the principal way for officers and other members to contact you.

Call for Artists– A CVWG Exhibition at Westminster Canterbury in Charlottesville

Member and Past President, Linda Verhagen, is leading the Guild’s exhibition at the Westminster Canterbury village. Linda, in a recent email to all members, says:

CVWG will be having an exhibit at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge Dec. 1 -31 this year. There are still spaces available for a painting from you. Please open the attachment to read all the needed rules to follow in order to enter. If you have any questions, please contact me at linda@cyrusfirst.com .

Open and download Linda’s information at the following link.

2021_10 WCBR ART ShowDownload

Member News

Member-Artist, Susan Rosen, emailed the following announcement:

Member-Artist Juliette Swenson emails:

I am pleased to offer watercolor painting classes lasting 2-5 weeks. These will specialize in animals and flowers. I have taught for some years now and have a large open room in which to teach in Staunton. My next series of classes starts in April 2022 on Thursday evenings from 4.30-7pm.

See Juliette’s website at www.julietteswenson.com for information about her classes.

We’d Love to Hear From You!

Drop our CVWG Webmaster an email to let everyone know what you are doing and how your artist journey is progressing.

Administration, Call for Entries, Local Events, Member news, Monthly Meetings, Shows

Back to In-Person Meetings, Calls for Artists, and More!

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A reminder that Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is found online at www.CVWG.art.

Guild Member Meetings

Our Guild resumed our monthly meetings on Monday, September 27 with a full program of refreshments, social time, a short business meeting, the Challenge! show, and a program. The photo at the top of this post shows many of the members in attendance.

Twenty-nine (29) of our members and guests attended. Here are a few photos of the meeting, the 7 member-artists who met the monthly painting Challenge! interpreting the theme of “Quiet Valley“, and the program by Patricia WIlliams entitled “Stop Hating Critique and Learn to Love Your Failures“.

The next CVWG meeting is October 25:

  • President Donna Koutrakos has called a meeting of the Board of Directors for 10:45 AM;
  • Members and guests should arrive at 12:30 PM for refreshments and social time;
  • The business meeting will begin promptly at 1:00 PM and is expected to end by 3:00 PM.

The Challenge! theme for October is “Favorite Book” and our featured program artist is Eleanor Cox who will demonstrate her painting of Virginia landscapes. Our Meetings and Programs web page has been updated and provides a map to aid you in finding us.

Featured Artist Eleanor Cox

Eleanor Cox is our special guest-artist leading our program at our meeting on October 25 (se above).

Eleanor specializes in watercolors that feature color and light in the landscape and garden. Her work focuses on Virginia but she has traveled abroad annually for 30 years to paint en plein air in England, Ireland, France, and Italy. Holding a BFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she has won many local and regional awards including honors from the Southern Watercolor Society, the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the Potomac Valley Watercolorists, and the Virginia Watercolor Society, all of which she is an artist member. Her work is in many private and corporate collections, including Forbes Magazine, Wachovia Bank, Philip Morris Corporation, CSX, Capital One, First Union Bank, and James River Corporation.

Says Eleanor,

I paint for the joy of painting. It is a natural way to express my ideas, impressions and reactions to nature, color and mood. Using landscape, the garden and still life, I am able to paint my responses in a way that expresses my sheer excitement of putting the brush to paper with watercolor paint, making marks, creating edges, washes and using brilliant color. Local regional scenes as well as traveling abroad give me endless opportunity to paint en plein air and in my studio. Gardening, cooking and teaching are passions I share with my brush.

Eleanor can be contacted through her email, eleanorscox@gmail.com. Her website is www.eleanorcox.com.

Call for Artists– A CVWG Exhibition at Westminster Canterbury in Charlottesville

Member and Past President, Linda Verhagen, is leading the Guild’s exhibition at the Westminster Canterbury village. Linda, in a recent email to all members, says:

CVWG will be having an exhibit at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge Dec. 1 -31 this year. There are still spaces available for a painting from you. Please open the attachment to read all the needed rules to follow in order to enter. If you have any questions, please contact me at linda@cyrusfirst.com .

Open and download Linda’s information at the following link.

2021_10 WCBR ART ShowDownload

The Guild’s Courthouse Exhibit is Changing…A Call for Artists

CVWG’s current exhibit at the Albemarle County Courthouse has been on continuous display since January 2020 as COVID and courthouse protocols have prevented our committee from making changes. But that is changing!

A new set of paintings will be put on exhibition on November 15. All members are encouranged to enter a water media painting in this exhibit. Our Activities page has been updated with the details so be certain to look there for guidance including framing, hanging, labeling, and drop off. Please contact Carolyn Ratcliffe if needed.

Member News

Member-artist John Hancock emails great news:

My Fall has already been busier than usual, especially with classes and sending out pieces of my work to several exhibitions around the country. I was especially pleased to be invited to be in a group exhibition at the Alexandria Art Museum (Louisiana) and in the 2021 Rocky Mountain National Watermedia show. Here is a link to the catalog of the RMNW exhibition. Aside from my solo exhibition back in February, those two were certainly among the most exciting of my several exhibitions around the country so far this year.

Please Share Your Activities!

We invite you to share any aspect of the artistic “you” with us…activities, muses, workshops, travel, etc. We are also always looking for ways to feature our member artists’ work and invite you to be featured in one of our periodic Featured Member Artist profiles. Simply contact the CVWG Webmaster.

Administration, Art News, Classes/Workshops, Local Events, Monthly Meetings, Resources for Members, Shows

CVWG Exhibition at The Center Opens Next Week!

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A reminder that Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is found online at www.CVWG.art.

CVWG Exhibit at The Center June 1 – July31

CVWG is pleased that 21 member-artists will exhibit their paintings on the upstairs gallery of the beautiful new The Center, 540 Belvedere Blvd., Charlottesville starting next week. Due to COVID, The Center is not having receptions at this time but feel free to visit The Center on weekdays, 8:30-4:00 during June and July.

Exhibiting in the downstairs gallery at the same time is the well – known Virginia artist, Fred Nichols. Bring a friend to see the art and have lunch or refreshments at the Greenberry’s inside the lobby. Masks are only required for those who have not been vaccinated.

Exhibiting artists include: Linda Abbey, Vivian Attermeyer, Carolyn Belt, Janice Creasy, Joy Cross, Anne Deane, Judi Ely, Mary Ann Friedman, Adella Langham, Phyllis Koch-Sheras, Donna Koutrakos, Robin Adair Kuzen, Jane Matthews, Deborah Prum, Carolyn Ratcliffe, Patricia Richmond, Chee Kludt Ricketts, Susan Crave Rosen, Dianna Scott-Auger, Julliette Swenson, and Linda Verhagen.

News from Your Board of Directors

Twelve of your Guild Directors met on Tuesday, May 25, to discuss a number of topics of interest to our Guild and our members. Some highlights:

  • In-person Meetings– The location where CVWG normally holds our in-person meetings, the Church of Our Savior on Rio Rd, remains closed due to COVID. We have no insight as to when it may reopen. Our President, Donna Koutrakos, is looking for other venues at which we might safely start meeting once again. Stay tuned for more information.
  • Painting Critique Session– A member-artist has specifically requested that we hold a painting critique where member-artists can get professional guidance and feedback. Donna is looking at The Center to see if enough members could safely meet there and will see what we might be able to arrange. Again, stay tuned.
  • Donations– The Directors approved separate donations on behalf of our members to The Virginia Watercolor Society and to the 2021 Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s Schools (SRGS) for Visual Arts being hosted at Radford University.

More Workshop Resources for You

In her ongoing series to share insights and valuable knowledge of external workshops with the Guild, member-artist Karen Schwenzer has three new ideas. As we all wait for the Guild to be able to offer local workshops, click here to check out Karen’s suggestions on our Workshops page of our website.

Member-artist Linda Verhagen sent this resource for a local plein air workshop in early July:

Grace Episcopal Church in Keswick will have a morning of plein air painting, sketching and photography on July 3 from 9am-1pm. Artists of all level are invited to come and bring whatever you need including a picnic lunch. The public is invited to walk the grounds an interact with artists. Grace Church will provide a refrigerator, restrooms, water and views! Please RSVP to www.gracekeswick.org by June 18 if you intend to participate.

Grace Episcopal Church is located at 5607 Gordonsville Rd,, Keswick, VA 22947. Here is a link to their registration page.

CVWG’s Challenge! Show for May

Our May Challenge! featured the following 12 paintings from 10 member-artists at our Zoom show on Monday, May 24 all based on the chosen theme of “Raindrops“. The painting at the top of this post is “Fairy Floating in Rainbow Drops” by Phyllis Koch-Sheras and her granddaughter.

  • “Striped Snail” by Juliette Swnson
  • “Walking in the Rain” by Jane Williamson
  • “Remembering Eloise Giles” by Jane Williamson
  • “Raindrops on Roses” by Donna Koutrakos
  • “Raindrops on Waterlilies” by Paula Eliasek
  • “Singing in the Rain” by Patty Richmond
  • Two Paintings with Themes of Rainbows, Raindrops, and Fairies by Paula Eliasek
  • “Raindrops” by Rosemary Connelly
  • “Raindrops Keep On Falling” by Adella Langham
  • “Amaryllis Crying Tears” by Carolyn Belt
  • by Janice Creasy

A reminder and preview that our June Challenge! is scheduled:

  • The theme is “Birds of a Feather“;
  • Send a photo of your creation along with title to CVWG’s Webmaster by the entry deadline of Friday, June 25;
  • Join the “Challenge! by Zoom” meeting at 1:00 PM on Monday, June 28 where the works will be shared in full-screen and the artists will share their “stories”.
  • All Guild members will get an invitation to the Challenge! by Zoom” meeting on the morning of the Zoom call. Friends and Followers of our Guild are welcome to show your painting and/or attend our Zoom meeting but you must send an email to our CVWG Webmaster to be included.

Please Share Your Activities!

We invite you to share any aspect of the artistic “you” with us…activities, muses, workshops, travel, etc. We are also always looking for ways to feature our member artists’ work and invite you to be featured in one of our periodic Featured Member Artist profiles. Simply contact the CVWG Webmaster.

Administration, Call for Entries, Classes/Workshops, Monthly Meetings, Resources for Members, Shows

We Welcome a New Director to Our Board

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A reminder that Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is found online at www.CVWG.art.

(Re-)Introducing Karen Schwenzer, Our Newest Board Member

Central Virginia Watercolor Guild President, Donna Koutrakos, recently announced that member Karen Schwenzer will be joining our Board to help bring awareness and visibility to a wider range of water media workshops.

Karen Schwenzer

Karen writes:

Dear CVWG Members,

I have volunteered to be the workshop coordinator for the guild.  I will not be organizing de novo workshops, but providing information about workshop opportunities elsewhere.  My intention is not to keep a list of all possible workshops, but to share my and other’s experience. If you have had a particularly rewarding experience (or a particularly bad one) with a workshop company or workshop artist, please share the details with me.

Many members have experience with workshops, attending and teaching. But even the most experienced artist may benefit from new venues and new techniques. I love attending workshops, whether near or far.

My last in-person workshop was to Maine [see photo at the top of this post] in September 2019 (pre-pandemic). It was organized by Beverly Street Studio School in Staunton. The leaders were our very own Peg Sheridan and eco-historian/artist Betty Gatewood.  A great small group of artists, generous and knowledgeable leaders, and a dramatic venue made this a wonderful workshop.  BSSS had been running workshops, even international ones, over the years. For the Winter of 2021 BSSS is advertising two workshops, one in person and one virtual, as well as classes. Check out their website www.bssschool.org for details.

So, as we get this pandemic behind us and more people get vaccinated, many of you will want to travel and work on your art. So, feel free to contact Karen for ideas!

Reminder: Only 1 Week Until Challenge! Paintings are Due

A reminder that our February Challenge! Art Show by Zoom is coming up on Monday, February 22 at 1:00 PM. All entries must be submitted to our CVWG Webmaster by next Friday, February 19. Our theme this month is “Faith…what does it look like?“.

In January, we had a great restart of our Challenge! program with 18 member-artists showing 19 paintings and 30 members joining in on our Art Show by Zoom. As of this posting, fewer paintings have been submitted than last month so let’s get busy, finish those paintings, and get them submitted.

All members will be sent an email by 11:00 AM the morning of each month’s show (February 22) providing the web link to join our Zoom Art Show. Friends and Followers of CVWG, please feel free to join in as well— contribute a painting or just join the show, up to you– but you need to send a specific request to our CVWG Webmaster to be included and be sent the invitation and Zoom link.

If you need a refresher about our Challenge! program, please visit our dedicated page at https://cvwg.art/challenge/.

Reminder: Call for Artists– CVWG’s Exhibit at The Center

Member and Past President, Linda Verhagen, is leading our efforts to show members’ artworks at The Center in Charlottesville in May through end of June, 2021. Entry for this show is open so contact Linda to enter your work. Our webpage for that exhibit has been updated so please check out that page for latest details.

Member News

We did not receive a single piece of member news since our last posting. I know that mid-winter is depressing and, between the weather and this COVID nonsense, we are not able to to as much. Still, I know that many of you are working on your art.

We invite you to share any aspect of the artistic “you” with us…activities, muses, workshops, travel, etc. We are also always looking for ways to feature our member artists’ work and invite you to be featured in one of our periodic Featured Member Artist profiles. Simply contact the CVWG Webmaster.

Administration, Call for Entries, Local Events, Member news, Shows

A New Look for Our Guild

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A reminder that Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is found online at www.CVWG.art.

Check Out Our New Look!

Many of you might recall that the Guild formed a Publicity Committee last year to review our logo, branding, and other matters and update how our Guild presents itself to our communities. That Publicity Committee was completing its work for our printed media just as COVID-19 took over and forced restrictions.

At the end of 2020, several Directors– representing our Publicity Committee, Website, Membership, and Leadership– restarted the work to modernize our web presence. In the past few weeks, we have built a temporary test website and tested different logos, backdrops, color schemes, etc. In addition, a new streamlined use of menus on our website makes it easier to navigate, especially with mobile devices which are quickly dominating our society.

The resulting header image is shown above and is now “live” on our website. Check it our on http://www.cvwg.art.

A special Thank You! to members Bill Snow for his original art for our logo, Mary Spear for her leadership on the Publicity Committee, Linda Verhagen for her original art used as our backdrop, Rosemary Connelly for her help with redesign of the menus, Donna Koutrakos for her current leadership of the Guild, and our Board and all our members who helped in many ways!

Last Call if You Need Help Using Zoom

This is the last notice that our CVWG Webmaster, Mark Fitzpatrick, is planning to host a “CVWG Test Meeting by Zoom” where you can join, get some pointers, ask your questions, and get any tutoring you might want in using this increasingly popular “app”. This meeting will be set up in coming few days. You have to take the action to send an email to Mark to be included in this special session.

Reminder: Call for Artists– CVWG’s Exhibit at The Center

Member and Past President, Linda Verhagen, is leading our efforts to show members’ artworks at The Center in Charlottesville in May through end of June, 2021. Entry for this show is open so contact Linda to enter your work. Our webpage for that exhibit has been updated so please check out that page for latest details.

Member News

We are glad to see that member-artist Bill Snow is getting recognition beyond our Guild and within the neighboring communities. The Fluvanna Review newspaper published, back in mid-autumn time frame, a very nice article about Bill. You can read the article at this link. A special Thank You! to our ever-alert member Bunny Creasy for seeing this and sending us the notice.

Please Share Your Activities!

We invite you to share any aspect of the artistic “you” with us…activities, muses, workshops, travel, etc. We are also always looking for ways to feature our member artists’ work and invite you to be featured in one of our periodic Featured Member Artist profiles. Simply contact the CVWG Webmaster.