In the Philadelphia Water Color Society's 121st Anniversary "Works on Paper" National Exhibition, it is an honor to share that my drawing, "An Enigma" received the Elizabeth Shober Hooper Award for Excellence in Presentation and Technique!
The nationally recognized artist, Mary Whyte, was the juror of awards. I have admired her beautiful and intricate watercolor portraits for years now, so the honor of her choosing my drawing for this award is all the more meaningful to me. This drawing was exhilarating to work on. My lovely sister, Isabella, modeled over 6 hrs from life all together, and I worked partially from photographs I took as well. When we were setting up, I asked her to think of a narrative to channel, and she exceeded my expectations with her creativity! Her mysterious expression, confident pose, and ambiguous surroundings gave her the air of a fairytale heroine; a unique sort of princess. She told me later she was imagining how an intellectual and confident queen might look in the midst of a conversation. I loved it! You can look through the photos to see some progress photos. The process of each drawing is unique, but especially with larger pieces I have found using vine charcoal to establish the initial gesture and proportions to be the most helpful in creating a dynamic piece. I learned this method from Robert Liberace and Sherrie McGraw.
The frame was a beautiful antique discovered by my Mom, who has an eye and a gift for finding treasures! I sanded it down myself and then used a process of painting, gilding, and glazing to achieve the final results. I also hand cut the matting, and was gifted the museum grade glass through the generosity of my good friend and renowned artist, Justin Vining.
Congratulations to all of the artists in the show!