Luiza Grandchamp won the FIRST PLACE award for painting “NICOLE’S PEONIES”; she wrote for us:

When my daughter Nicole found out I was painting flowers in my WAS-H Watercolor Class, she sent me several photos of her the beautiful peonies of her garden. Those photos inspired me to create the composition for my painting. During class, Susan Giannatonio provided me with great insight and knowledge of watercolor flowers.  Her paintings are impressive and very inspiring.  After finishing my watercolor of peonies, Susan encouraged me to enter it into the July student show and I did!  I am very grateful for that suggestion and, of course, for her classes this summer. Getting this award from WAS-H was so such an honor and quite unexpected. Winning first place with my very first watercolor was just magical!

Bill Curtis was awarded the SECOND PLACE for “TEMPLE MOUNT STEPS”, here is what he wrote:

The Temple Mount painting was done at the suggestion of my watercolor instructor, Artist Mark Stewart. Mark’s painting appears very realistic but is actually made of a myriad of more abstract splotches, splashes and techniques specific to the gesture he is trying to achieve. Mark’s work, in my opinion, is heavily influenced, visually and compositionally, by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth.

The temple Mount image is a photograph Mark took while vacationing in Jerusalem. The decision to paint this photo came about the time of the initial stay-at-home-COVID experience in Houston. As such, Mark and I determined to do a virtual painting session. He and I would talk on the phone about the image, then hang up and paint to the point we discussed. We then snapped photos with our cameras and texted them back and forth for discussion, followed by more discussion, painting and repeat. The interesting thing was determining the wash colors to achieve the painting as these were verbal instructions to me from Mark, and who knew if my mixing efforts were similar to his.

The under washes were with Raw Siena, followed by washes utilizing Burnt Umber, Sepia and French Ultramarine Blue to achieve the various shades of the rocks and shadows.

The whole painting was done in the above method and was completed at a choreographed distance.

Zahid Shaikh, who was awarded the THIRD PLACE for “TRIBAL CHIEFTAIN” wrote:

I was delighted to win third place among all the students in the July show! A special thanks and much gratitude to Tamara for her encouraging words. Here are a few words regarding my painting of the Tribal Chieftain.

The focus of this portrait was to convey a sense of authority and wisdom in the tribal leader's demeanor. It's all in the eyes, something I learned from master portrait artist and instructor Mohammed Bhatti. Under Carla Gauthier's tutelage I also learned to move out of my comfort zone and apply bold, loose strokes, without going into excruciating detail. She also guided me in the use of basic design principles, which I applied to the face, and used connecting values in the background.