August 2024 UWS President’s Message

W  A  T  E  R  ~  M  U  S  I  N  G  S

                A cheery ‘Hello!’ to my fellow watercolor and water media artists on this beautiful August afternoon.  As I sit here in this old, renovated building on Main Street of Helper, Utah crafting this first letter to you, our Utah Watercolor Society members and friends, my mind drifts back to the beginnings of my artistic journey.  I can hear a couple of tunes simultaneously playing in my head: Chicago’s “Beginnings” and Greg Lake’s “From the Beginning,” both of which I love to play on my several guitars.

                I left full time employment in September 2015, took a year and a half to get my bearings, then jumped into fine art with both feet eagerly outstretched and eyes firmly closed.  Here I am in Helper participating in the fifth of nine plein air competitions for this year.  I’ve done over 50 of these events in these last seven or so years.  Who could have known then that in my quest to be fully involved with the art world I would not only join this Society, but ultimately end up as your president! I’ve always been drawn to water in its various forms–skiing, ice climbing, whitewater kayaking, fly fishing, skydiving through layers of cloud, and painting the world around me.  I grew up watching my dad paint many watercolor pieces, and got my fascination with and love of art from him.  When Becky Hartvigsen asked me to be her vice president, I didn’t hesitate.  What a way to be involved, what an opportunity to better get to know so many of you!  Yes, it’s a lot of work, but hey–what worthwhile thing isn’t?

                This plein air competition here in Helper, Utah is a great opportunity for me to get to know even more artists.  Participating in these types of events is how I’ve gotten to know a LOT of artists all around the country.  I know that many of you create art as more of a fun hobby, and that’s OK.  If it’s not fun and fulfilling, why do it, right?  For me, it’s become my third professional venture.  Some of you can relate (and sympathize). People ask me if I’m retired, and when I stop and think about that, I realize that if I were to retire I would be doing the very things which I already do (see my list, above), so why retire?  Naaa…

                Whatever your artistic priority, I encourage you to make the effort to join us in our monthly meetings, learn from our guest artists, enter some of our exhibitions, participate and learn in some of our workshops, and generally just get involved with your Utah Watercolor Society.  You’ll make connections and grow friendships that can last a lifetime.  You’ll learn more about how to handle (or even master?) this sometimes fickle medium which is often described as “difficult” with seemingly a mind of its own.

                As your UWS Board, we’re currently discussing ways to make the workshops more accessible to a greater number of you by cutting our two major annual workshops down to four or even three days, moving their schedules around to take advantage of Saturdays so those who still work full time but want to participate don’t have to take as many days off to do that, and by finding ways to make them more affordable.  We’re looking at adding more levels and award categories to our exhibitions to help “level the playing field” for those of us who are not yet watercolor rock stars, and updating some of our UWS Bylaws to reflect the times and some necessary changes.  We’ve added a couple of new Board positions, and have added some new volunteers who are pitching in to help.  Many hands, light work, right?  My goal (and pledge) is to make things more accessible and easier for you, our members, even if we have to bend the rules here and there to do that.  But after all, isn’t that why the Utah Watercolor Society even exists?

                Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I hope to see as many of you as possible at our first meeting on 3 September at 7:00pm at the Sons of Utah Pioneers building, 3301 East Louise Avenue, Salt Lake City.