W A T E R • M U S I N G S
April was a strange month…sort of like that old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.“ The weather was unpredictable, my von Haiderthal Fine Art business was unpredictable, the economy and politics were (and are increasingly) waaaaay unpredictable. How about all of you? But hey–let’s hang in there! Things will get better, I’m sure of it.
That surgery I had back on 11 March went well, and I think my recovery is complete. I’m painting again–had the great pleasure of participating in the St. George Plein Air Festival a couple of weeks ago and turned out some pieces I’m pretty happy with. Got a Third Place ribbon on one of them, and sold my nocturne entry, which I painted from the balcony on the top floor of the City View Apartments. Camping at Quail Creek State Park for a week was also fun. Last week I went back down to St. George for their Art Festival. That was an interesting few days…see my Chinese curse comment above. As many of you know, I do a lot of oil painting as well as watercolor. I had a good variety of landscape paintings in my booth there in both mediums. Guess what? The five pieces I sold were all watercolors! Now, some may argue that it was a question of price or cost, but I don’t think so. I had a chance to observe the many people who came through my booth, and they were invariably drawn to the watercolors. Vindication? Maybe so! I definitely am going to do more watercolors these next few years, dividing my time more equally to that medium. The more I do that, the more I’m fascinated by this process of “staining“ paper!
As my wife, Diane, reminded me the other day, my year as your president is getting very near the end–I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it’s been a lot more work than I ever imagined it would be, but on the other hand it’s been an absolute joy to serve you all. A huge “Thank You!“ goes out to my vice president, Margo Cook, and to all of our Board members. Every one of them has stepped up countless times and just gotten things DONE!
Coming up in a week or so is Geoff Allen‘s 4-day workshop, scheduled for 7-10 May. It promises to be very educational–he’s a fantastic artist, and I’m certainly looking forward to learning from him! Our Spring Exhibition also begins that same week, with opening night on Friday, 9 May at 6:00 pm, in The Gene Nelson Attic at the Provo Library (550 N. University Avenue, Provo, Utah). Don’t forget to put that on your calendar if you haven’t already.
Remember, our May members’ meeting will be held on Tuesday, 6. May, at 7:00 pm. We will all benefit from Geoff’s demonstration that night.
Along with our very capable and hard-working Utah Watercolor Society Board, I wish you all the best and happy painting.
Günther Haidenthaller
President, Utah Watercolor Society