Some of our longstanding Master Signature members have been with us, through thick and thin, since this group was established in 1990. Many of our newest members are celebrating their first full year of membership at the Associate Artist level. For all of us, membership in American Women Artists is a way to celebrate, encourage and inspire each other as we invest in our continued success in the visual fine arts. This March, we encourage our new Associates as we launch an on-line juried competition especially for them. This November, we’ll celebrate our Master Signature and Signature Members with the addition of a slate of awards and honors to be given during our annual members show – full details to follow in the months to come. So, thank you one and all for your continued support.
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Some of our longstanding Master Signature members have been with us, through thick and thin, since this group was established in 1990. Many of our newest members are celebrating their first full year of membership at the Associate Artist level. For all of us, membership in American Women Artists is a way to celebrate, encourage and inspire each other as we invest in our continued success in the visual fine arts. This March, we encourage our new Associates as we launch an on-line juried competition especially for them. This November, we’ll celebrate our Master Signature and Signature Members with the addition of a slate of awards and honors to be given during our annual members show – full details to follow in the months to come. So, thank you one and all for your continued support.
AWA Associate Member Online Juried Competition American Women Artists is pleased to announce our inaugural Online Juried Competition for Associate Members. This competition is a wonderful opportunity for Associate members to participate in a juried event. The Grand Prize winners, will automatically be juried into our National Annual Competition at the R.S. Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, Texas in November 2013. Second and third prize winners will receive cash and/or merchandise. Entry opening begins March 1, 2013 with entry deadline April 5. We are pleased to have Elizabeth Robbins as our Juror of Awards for painting, and Judeth Davis for sculpture. |
AWA National Plans for the 2013 National are fully underway. The AWA Board of Directors has been hard at work finalizing all the details to present another splendid exhibit in an outstanding venue in Fredericksburg, Texas hosted by R.S. Hanna Gallery. Dates are November 1 through 24. Look for more pertinent information on the AWA web site after April 15th. More information concerning any Paint Outs, Demos or Workshops will follow as plans are finalized. |
President’s Message Dear AWA Members, While it seems like only yesterday that we were all in Arizona celebrating both a gallery and a museum opening, plus a Master Class with amazing instructors, your board is very busy with even more for 2013! Our museum show was very successful with over $23,000 in sales and a very popular Plein Air Paint Out, also with strong sales. Everyone enjoyed the camaraderie, critiques and demonstrations of our Master Class and we have plans for more in the future. Our level of membership has been steadily increasing with our 49 new members since the first of the year bringing our total Associate level to 579. We are excited about our first-ever online juried show for our Associates, detailed elsewhere in this newsletter. We are just as excited about our upcoming 16th annual member show and juried competition when for the first time, we will be offering awards for our Master Signature and Signature Members as well as our usual recognition for our Associate Members. As our level of visibility has increased in recent years, thanks in part to a new website and social media marketing, so have our sponsorships and supporters. One of our goals for 2013 is to raise cash prize money over last year, so these levels of visibility will be vital to our efforts to garner more sponsorship. We thank our loyal Signature and Master Signature Members, who have made it possible over the years to open up opportunities for women artists who might otherwise not have had a venue to show their work. Giving women opportunities and support is what makes American Women Artists different from other art groups. I have thoroughly enjoyed being President and Show Chairman for our wonderful 3 day celebration of art this past November. Most of all, I have deeply enjoyed furthering the mission of AWA to support, encourage, and provide exhibition opportunities for women artists everywhere! Sincerely, Carol Swinney President, AWA |
Member Spotlights |
Master Artist Member Spotlight- Dianne Massey Dunbar Dianne Massey Dunbar has received much praise and recognition for her work, including numerous awards and honorable mentions at shows and exhibitions across the country.
This recognition, she says, makes all her sacrifices as an artist worthwhile. Diane is also a signature member of Oil Painters of America, and most recently was honored with OPA’s “Award of Excellence” at their 2012 Western Regional Exhibit. While Massey Dunbar has tremendous respect for artists who seek out beauty in nature (nudes, flowers, vistas, etc.), she prefers to paint ordinary objects or people engaged in their usual routines. “I consider myself a fairly ordinary person, so perhaps I can relate more to a bottle of ketchup than I can to a vase of flowers,” she says. Her work attempts to reveal the unseen beauty and underlying spirituality of everyday life. Dianne currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where she paints continuously and is actively involved with Denver’s Art Students League. “I love to paint! Every painting is an adventure, with opportunities and challenges. A few works paint themselves, seemingly effortlessly. Other paintings yield an almost life and death struggle. Whatever the outcome, I always learn something. It is intoxicating. It is unpredictable. Painting for me is an ongoing process of discovery.” See more of Diane’s work. |
Signature Sculptor Member Spotlight- Cathy Ferrell
Catherine Ferrell’s sculpture is found in museums and collections, both nationally and internationally. Her studio in Vero Beach, FL faces the Atlantic Ocean giving her inspiration and subject matter generously. “The ocean has always been the center of my life in Florida. I live on an island, with the Atlantic Ocean in front of me, the Indian River lagoon in my back yard, and the Archie Carr Turtle Refuge on either side. The ocean sounds, tropical colors, brilliant light and open spaces are all inspiration for my work.” She has been a US Coast Guard licensed Captain and has recently returned from expeditions to the Sea of Cortez, in preparation for a museum show in 2013 and in January from The Andaman Sea and Mekong, researching new work for 2014. Awards and honors include: Sculptor in residence at Brookgreen Gardens, Silver Medal of Honor, Audubon Artists of America; Bedi-Makky Foundry Prize, national Sculpture Society, and numerous prizes from Pen and Brush, The Salmagundi Club and American Artists Professional League. “My ancestors – early settlers from New England- must have started out with a fascination for the sea. And so it remains with me”. View more of Cathy’s work. |
Associate Member Spotlight – Sara Jane Doberstein Congratulations is due to our Canadian member Sara Jane Doberstein, who was recently awarded Signature status with the Oil Painters of America. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Sara has spent most of her life in Owen Sound, Ontario on beautiful Georgian Bay. A full time artist since 2000, her interest in the arts began at an early age, when she developed a passion for capturing the American coastline during family trips to the Carolinas. She continues to visit the United States as often as possible, finding inspiration in the beauty of its coastal areas. Sara Jane’s diverse painting styles range from traditional representational to contemporary realism, and her work reflects a fascination with the natural world and its transformations. Whether her subject is a glossy cluster of cherries, the chipped paint of an antique, or the colorful jumble of seashells on a beach, her paintings capture the larger-than-life essence of everyday objects and scenes. Her playful, whimsical approach to her subjects is balanced by a technical mastery of paint, which combines to create detailed, thoughtful, and energetic compositions. Scallop Seaduction 18 x 36 |
Member News Joy Kroeger Beckner – Master Signature Member, has been awarded membership into the prestigious Salmagundi Club, New York, NY. The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog will feature dachshunds from their permanent collection, including Beckner’s A Good Life and more of her bronze and sterling dachshunds, in the Dachshund in Art Exhibit, May 3 through 19.. Kim Casebeer, Master Signature Member, won Best of Show in the January BoldBrush competition for her painting, Curve in the Road. This piece was also juried into the National Oil Painters of America show to be held in Fredericksburg, Texas in May. Kim will also participate in two C.M. Russell Museum benefit auctions, May 14 through 16, in Great Falls, MT. Paula Holtzclaw, Signature Member, will be exhibiting 3 of her paintings in The Salon International at Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, April 13- May 3. Two of her paintings will be included in the Women Painters of the South East Annual Exhibition hosted this year by Imagine Gallery in Franklin, Tennessee, April 19- May 20. Paula was also a recipient of Award of Merit at the Women Artists of the West National Exhibition, held at RS Hanna Gallery in Fredericksberg, Texas this past November. Congratulations to our Associate Member Christine Drewyer, who has been elected to serve as President of the Women Artists of the West. Associate member Gladys Roldan-de-Moras, winner of the prestigious Best in Show Award, at the Impressionists Society’s 13th Annual Juried Exhibition, will be included in the 2013 Texas Masters Invitational Show at Insight Gallery in Fredericksberg, Tx. March 1- March 23. She will also be participating in the Artists of the American West Inaugural Invitational held at the Pearce Museum, Corsicana, TX. which opens to the public on March 9. |
| Please send time appropriate information about shows, awards, workshops and such to Paula at for the Member News section of this newsletter.
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