WAS-H 2023-2024 proposed slate of officers

Karen Stopnicki is a native Houstonian and lifelong artist, who while in the 4th grade convinced her parents to let her to take adult painting classes, and ultimately earned her BA in Art from the University of Texas. She currently runs a busy household that includes her husband, 13-year old son, a cat and a dog, does commissions as a professional artist, and is a consummate volunteer.

A long-time WAS-H member, she is currently serving WAS-H as President and has previously served on the WAS-H Board of Directors in a variety of roles including Public Relations Director, Annual Members Exhibit Director, and Website/Technology Director. She has also served key volunteer roles in the Mark Twain Elementary PTO and the West University Little League Auxiliary.

She will bring business acumen to her role as WAS-H President from her years in corporate advertising and marketing for local and national retailers. “I hope to marry my love for WAS-H with my background and experience to keep the organization heading in a positive direction. We have so much to offer the community, and I look forward to seeing WAS-H full of shows, classes, and events with members and guests.”

_________

Donna Van Fleet has passion for the arts, project management, and helping organizations thrive, and she is enormously grateful to WAS-H for allowing her to indulge these passions as Co-Vice President and IWE Chair.  A math major who took every art class and was editor of the college newspaper, Donna became an executive at an international computer company and has chaired the boards of an opera company, a school of natural sciences, an adolescent girls’ organization and a hospital.  

I look forward to ongoing collaborations at WAS-H to make life colorful!

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Janet Traylor is a native Houstonian.  She attended University of Houston and received a degree in Accounting.  She then followed her dream of working in the Oil & Gas Industry; she worked for just over six years with Tenneco Oil Company.  When Tenneco sold its position in exploration and production in 1988, she had just had a beautiful baby girl.  Great timing, she became a stay at home mom, volunteering with Service League, tutoring children in math, and holding the position of her church bookkeeper.  She was a ballet mom, Swim mom, and waterpolo mom serving on many boards as needed.  When her daughter left for college she resumed her career in Oil and Gas Accounting at Houston based Enervest, where she retired as Manager of Accounting Advisors in April 2017. 

Her first dabble in Art was in 2006 when she took some classes at the Jung Center in Chinese Brush Painting.  After retiring in 2017 she discovered WAS-H and has taken many classes and major workshops since.  She loves the interaction of the classes at WAS-H, but needs to spend more time working on her art at home on her own.  

            I have enjoyed serving as the secretary on the WAS-H Board for the year 2022-2023.  I am looking forward to getting back to the numbers by switching places with our esteemed current Treasurer Kathleen Cooper for the 2023-2024 Board.

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Kathleen Cooper spent her career in the field of tax accounting and planning, mostly dealing with the international tax issues of major corporations.  She has been the WAS-H treasurer from January, 2021 through the end of the current fiscalyear.  She is now passing the baton, and will work as the Secretary in the coming fiscal year while helping the new Treasurer get acclimated. 

The Crѐche Festival Houston is inviting artists to submit work which explores, depicts, or interprets Christ’s nativity for a juried and judged exhibition: They would like to see more watercolors in their exhibit.

 For more information, click HERE

First Place Award

John Salminen

Promenade Price: $7000

Watercolor on paper 

33 " x 33 "

Duluth, MN

Second Place Award

Dean Mitchell

Angel in the Window Price: $15000

Watercolor on paper 

22 " x 30 "

Tampa, FL

Third Place Award

Lyudmila Tomova

Rehearsal Break Price: $1200

Watercolor on paper 

18 " x 24 "

Cary, NC

Odette Ruben Memorial Award:

Susan Keith

Brighter Days Ahead

Jack Bowen Award:

Cheryl Wooten

Day's Catch

Margaret Scott Bock Award:

Monika Pate

Antiques and Lace

Herbert Family Award:

Daniela Werneck

The Blue Butterfly

E. Thomas Kraycirik Memorial Award:

Ken Call

Red Lollipops 

Board of Directors Award:

Chris Krupinski

Pears and Squares

Special Merit Award:

Xiaochang Zhang

Bride

Merit Awards:

Cindy Brabec-King - Cherry Bomb

Richard Tiejun Chao - A Window to Your Soul

Mehrdad Sedghi - Reflection of Slence and Darkness 

Carla Gauthier - Bay Oaks Light

Soon Warren - Dream of Soaring

Alison Hendry - Missing Charlotte

Colleen Reynolds - Hair Like Mine

Mohammad Bhatti - Desert Nomad 

Sid Bingham - Barking Dogs

R. Mike Nichols - Mom

By Paula Fowler

Vikki Trammell, A Friend of WAS-H

If you are an artist in Houston, Texas, then you don’t have to look far to find a friend who is a wealth of artistic knowledge, a creative force and a joy to know. Her name is Vikki Trammell. She and her husband, Ben Russell, are the owners of Art Supply on Almeda. This store is an artist’s treasure and is at a new location, but it’s history in Houston goes back more than 60 years.  If you have lived here for a while, you might remember the store on Richmond Ave or the one on Main Street. The current address is 5301 Almeda Road.  It seems like they have always been here to serve Houston’s art community! 

We hear Vikki’s name a lot around WAS-H. She has been a generous donor of merchandise awards for our major shows and provider of artistic goodies for our monthly lottery at our general meetings. In addition, she gives a 20% discount to you, as a WAS-H member. All you have to do is ask for a discount card when you’re shopping. 

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down for a visit with Vikki and hearing about how she arrived at this spot. The story begins when Vikki was born the middle child of seven into a military family at Fort Sills, Oklahoma. So moving around, including time in Germany, was part of her childhood. By high school, she was living in Garland, Texas. She started college in the Dallas area, but was eventually drawn to Houston, where she continued her education at University of Houston, by then, a single mom, working, taking care of a baby and studying! She studied marketing, but always managed to add an art class to nurture her creative side. The job she had at this time was at Art Supply on Richmond Avenue which would eventually be owned by her future husband, Ben Russell. Together, they teamed to market art supplies, foster artists by offering studio space, and by becoming integrally involved with the Houston art community. 

In 1997, it was necessary to find a new home for Art Supply and they bought a large 1946 New Orleans-style building on Main Street and began a complete remodel that would include retail space, 26 artist studios and 7 live-work spaces. The intimate bond that they had established with the Houston artists was evident during this time, because they were able to remain open, without air conditioning, through a Houston summer…and their customers stayed loyal!  

Then 5 years ago, after 22 years on Main Street, it was decided to move once again, this time to a location at 5301 Almeda Road. This time, the space would be built from scratch according to their own design ideas and would include the store, 15 studios and 5 work-live spaces.  It is conveniently located in a bustling, interactive community that is emersed in education right off Highway 288 and near the museum district and the medical center and is just a short trip from our WAS-H building. This was a tough time for a transition because Houston had just gone through Hurricane Harvey and the city permitting department was overwhelmed with the demands of all the rebuilding. And then Covid hit just as they opened! But, once again, their loyal clientele stuck beside them and with a firm plan and perseverance, they emerged with a wonderful new building that has clean lines, high ceilings and artist-friendly light from high windows. Parking is conveniently located behind the store. 

When you visit the store, you will be greeted by a staff of 3 full-time and 2 part-time assistants, many of whom are working artists, who know the supplies from their own personal experience. One of those friendly faces, Lucy, has been working at Art Supply for decades and teaches painting in the Heights. They can guide you as you shop and give you expert advice and comparisons between vendors. Vikki makes sure that Art Supply stays up-to-date with new trends by being an active participant in iAMart, a coalition of independent, locally-owned art-materials stores that are committed to helping artists of all experience levels succeed by helping them purchase the best supplies for their individual need and to support and promote local artist, arts organizations and educators. 

Vikki also contributes time, and inspiration to others in the Houston art community by being an Advisory Board member of Print Matters and the Community Artists Collective and by being actively involved with, among others, Lawndale Art Center , the Art League and the MFAH Glassell School of Art. She always stays connected has a focus on the art community’s needs and fellowship that includes the professional artists as well as the hobbiest.

I hope that you make it to Art Supply and take some time to chat with Vikki the next time you are indulging your urge for new supplies. She is a multidimensional person who is curious about everything, has a broad breath of knowledge (she’s affectionately known as “Vikkipedia”!), and approaches life with a sense of humor. She directs her own creative talents toward thinking about and developing Artist’s Books. She will enrich you life!

46th International Watermedia Exhibit

is Open NOW through March 29, 2023.

Gallery hours have been extended during the duraton of the IWE.

WAS-H Gallery will be open 7 days a week.

Monday - Friday and Saturday & Sunday

10am - 3pm

By Donna Van Fleet, WAS-H Co-Vice President

IWE -- ABUNDANCE OF ART, ABUNDANCE OF VOLUNTEERS 

Eighty-four paintings came from around the world to be mounted in a breath-taking exhibition in our Gallery. WAS-H is enormously grateful to their artists for their sharing their artistry with us. 

And the artists are grateful to WAS-H . . .

"I’d like to thank all the volunteers who made the 46th IWE possible." ~ John Salminen, "Promenade"

"Thank you for the amazing show and your hard work!" ~ Lyudmila Tomova, "Rehearsal Break"

"Thanks to WAS-H. It was an honor just to be selected into your show." ~ Sid Bingham, "Barking Dogs"

What does it take to go from this...

To this?

It takes a cheerful uncreating crew under the seasoned guidance of Mike Doan.

 And a tireless hanging crew led by Paula Fowler with the incomparable curation of Carla Gauthier.

WAS-H is very blessed to have 5 generous donors who fund awards in the names of loved ones: Art Supply on Almeda, Estate of Odette Rubin, Friends of E. Thomas Kraycirik, the Hebert family, the Jack and Annis Bowen Foundation and past and current members of the WAS-H Board of Directors. Thank you to Laura McMahon for creating loving tributes to those for whom the awards are fondly named, and gratitude also for the devoted labors of Laura and Louise Bateman and their team in managing this year's judging and award process, including the slideshow for the Grand Opening Meeting. 

For the website slideshow, thanks to Laura Mossman, fount of knowledge, smoother of feathers, solution-magician, and tireless toiler who carried out a myriad tasks to bring IWE to fruition. For assembling a lasting record as well as a lovely panorama in the form of the Exhibition Catalog, we owe a big debt of gratitude to Beth Graham. 

Thanks to Maureen Lewis and her welcoming crew for managing a standing-room-only Members Meeting, and to Kathleen Church, Darlene Dittoe, Beth Graham and Karen Stopnicki for making our beloved building "company-ready".

Special gratitude to Brenda Swenson not only for serving as juror and judge for the Exhibition, as demonstration artist for the Members Meeting and as Workshop instructor, but also for her relentless dedication to overcoming multiple flight delays to get here in time for the proceedings to go on as scheduled. 

"Cheers!" to Kathleen Church, Patty Armstrong and their Reception crew for a Grand Opening reception bubbling with camaraderie, cuisine, and libations. And to Rick Wells Photography, Drury Inn and H-E-B for enhancing the festivities with gratis services.

The Exhibition hangs through the month of March, and WAS-H eagerly welcomes throngs of art lovers to come visit, with thanks to Kelly Medrano, Nancy Moody, Veronica Koenig, and their Communications cohort for spreading the word and to Cheryl Evans for making the communications colorful with her artwork.

To the many more who are not named or pictured here, please be assured your efforts were seen and cherished.  Your spirit of community is what makes IWE possible.

LONGTIME HOUSTON ARTIST AND ART INSTRUCTOR WILL DEMONSTRATE AT APRIL MEETING

SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2 – 3:30 P.M.

Patrick Palmer has been teaching painting at the Glassell School of Art since 1992 and has been the dean since 2010. Throughout his 40-plus years of painting, Palmer placed works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and many other museum and university collections. 

Patrick will demonstrate the age-old aleatory practice dating to Da Vinci and beyond. The aleatory manner uses acrylic based washes on paper, an opaque solution that achieves transparency due to the high ratio of water to pigment, often 95% or more.  Patrick will show how to use this tradition of aleatory mark-making to randomly uncover marks to determine not only the composition but a representational subject matter, in his case, the head.

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The Theme for the April Show is "Borders and Fences".

Click HERE for the Prospectus.

Register Here:  April Exhibit - Registration

Each month, we need a volunteer to staff the Gallery on the 2nd Saturday. The volunteer will greet the public, answer the phone, and ensure the gallery is open to the general public.  The hours are 10 am - 3 pm. If you can help out, please sign up for months when you are available. Sign up by clicking HERE

Be a WAS-H Ambassador!

The Menil Collection’s second annual Neighborhood Community Day will be held on Saturday, April 1, 2023.

WAS-H will participate again this year, but we need volunteers! We will have two tables, paint, paper, and brushes for the public to experience the joy of watercolor.

If you like to talk about WAS-H, help others use watercolor, and have the patience to also help children try the medium (lots of children attend this event), we could use you!

About the event:

Enjoy a fun afternoon of art, music, poetry, and family activities in celebration of the museum’s vibrant neighborhood. 

Participants include:

• DACAMERA
• Houston Ctr Photography 
• Inprint
• The Menil Collection 
• Rothko Chapel
• Watercolor Art Society Writers in the Schools (WITS)

To learn more about the event, click: Menil Community Day

 To be a WAS-H Ambassador,

click HERE

IWE Recrating Volunteers Needed

Friday, March 31

We can use a few more hands to help with the re-crating of IWE paintings on Friday, March 31. To sign up, click on the link below:

Sign up HERE