water+color: CWA's 43rd National Exhibition January 17, 2013

Artists' reception Saturday, Jan 19, 1-3pm; Exhibit Jan 17 through Feb 16, Wed-Fri 12-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm

The Harrington Gallery at the Firehouse Arts Center hosts this year's prestigious California Watercolor Association's 43rd National Exhibition entitled "water+color 2013." The exhibit features watermedia paintings by 80 nationally recognized, award-winning artists from as close as Danville to as far as Mumbai, India. There is a free public reception on Saturday, January 19 from 1-3 p.m. The public is welcome to enjoy refreshments and meet with a number of the artists who will be in attendance.

In addition to the opportunity to discover and enjoy these exquisite nationally recognized works, the public will have the unique opportunity to watch live painting demonstrations in the gallery by some of the participating artists. Each Saturday of the exhibition between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. beginning on January 26, one of the artists will be on-site to discuss their work, answer questions, and demonstrate their painting techniques.

Northern California artists are well-represented in the exhibit, including Chris Beck of Los Altos, Scotts Valley's Linda Curtis, "contemporary realism" practitioner Karen Frey, Michael Reardon of Oakland, and urban 'plein air' artist David Savellano. Other local exhibiting artists of interest are Walnut Creek's Anne Fallin of the TWSA (Transparent Watercolor Society of America), Ruth Koch, known for her juxtaposition of colors and shapes, and Robin Purcell who is known for rich deep colors in the plein air tradition. These artists represent widely diverse approaches to the use of watermedia, and their inclusion makes for a fascinating exploration of the varied uses of water colors.

The works selected for this large and diverse installation were chosen by guest curator Santa Cruz artist Mike Bailey, a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society, who in addition to being a respected and award-winning artist in his own right, also leads frequent painting workshops both nationally and internationally.

Official Website: http://www.firehousearts.org