By Karen Stopnicki, President

Dear WAS-H Friends,

Welcome to August! I love this month because it is a gentle transition from an unstructured, open-ended summer break to exciting and new activities in the Fall. The arts scene in Houston traditionally launches new seasons of performing and visual arts. WAS-H is no different, as we have so much planned for this Fall.  

If you missed our July Student Teacher Exhibit, it was a stunner. Our August Gallery Exhibit is themed “Skies”, and the entry deadline is Wednesday, August 3rd. The reception is on Sunday, August 6th at 3pm… come to see the show and meet our juror Frank Billingsley, the chief meteorologist from KPRC.

Our September Gallery Exhibit theme is “Blue” and the reception will follow our September General Meeting. If you are planning to enter, keep in mind that WAS-H has a mat cutter in the classroom space that members can use to aid in framing your work.

The Ryan Fox major workshop on Monday, October 3rd thru Thursday October 6th is open for enrollment HERE.  Ryan is an award-winning artist who will be teaching unique techniques and “turn your old notions about watercolor upside down.” This is an opportunity to learn from a world-class instructor right here at WAS-H, no expensive travel plans needed.

Remember how I just said August is a gentle transition to a busy time? It is a great time to paint and prepare work to enter in the Annual Members Exhibit (AME). The AME is a premier exhibit, and will be juried by Ryan Fox (mentioned above, also teaching a great class!). You can see the full schedule and prospectus HERE.

The Art Fair is planned for Saturday October 8th. Registration to participate is now open, (The link is HERE), and we expect spaces to fill up soon. The Art Fair is a great opportunity to sell your work, meet the community and enjoy being with fellow WAS-H members on a nice October Saturday.

I want to thank the Board and volunteers for keeping things running during the summer. Maureen Lewis and her team have been contacting members to gently remind them to renew, as membership dues are vital income to our operations. Kathleen Cooper diligently keeps our finances in order, taxes filed and bills paid, all timely and cheerfully. Marion Friedman has worked tirelessly to completely update our detailed operations handbook, the Procedures Manual. Diane Trepagnier has the AME planned and ready to go! Irene Sheytman and Donna Van Fleet are finalizing plans for our Fall General Meetings, demos and major workshop. I especially appreciate Laura Mossman, our hard-working Artist Liaison, who really does keep everything going in a positive direction.

I look forward to seeing you at WAS-H soon! WAS-H really is a happy place, with great artistic energy imbued throughout. I plan to attend the August Gallery Exhibit reception, if you will be there, I would love to say “hi” and visit a bit.

 

Warm Regards,

Karen Houston Stopnicki