Watercolors At Woods Church Introduce “A Brush With Color”

A peacock, an Indian villager and a flowerpot walk into a church.

OK, this isn’t the start of a bad joke but rather a taste of the diversity people will find at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church from August 26 to September 23 as the Annapolis Watercolor Club presents a new exhibit titled “A Brush With Color.”

The exhibit features about 25 pieces from members of the Annapolis Watercolor Club. Exhibit committee co-chairs Barbara Burns and Joan Machinchick picked the theme and gave artists few restrictions.

“We have landscapes, abstracts, animals and flowers,” Burns said. “It’s a broad range.”

Burns submitted two works: the peacock-starring “Hello Gorgeous” and “From the Garden.” An Arnold resident who is about to move back to Severna Park, Burns took an unorthodox path to become an artist.

“I took a painting course maybe 30 years ago and then I never painted again until my 60th birthday,” she said. “My husband bought me a gift card for Maryland Hall. That was 15 years ago.”

Burns also took classes with minimalist painter Erika Walsh, and she is now pleased to display her work alongside other talented local artists like Machinchick.

For her entry “June Riches,” Machinchick painted blue and purple flowers on Yupo paper, which is synthetic and stain-resistant. “You can rinse it in the sink,” Machinchick said. “It’s nonporous.”

To stamp a pattern on the flowers, Machinchick used Gelli plates.

The co-chairs said this is the club’s fifth or sixth exhibit of the year.

“We exhibit together, we give workshops, we do plein air painting,” Machinchick said. “It’s a good way to build camaraderie between members.”

Janice Hendra of Severna Park entered her work “A Wave of Color” because she liked “the dramatic dress on the person from India” on a photo she found.

“It’s great exposure for everyone,” she said of the exhibit. “Having shows makes people want to do it more.”

Agreeing with that statement was Heritage Harbour resident Karen deGraffenreid.

“I jumped on it,” she said of her participation in the exhibit. “I was a member of Woods for 25 years. I knew they had a lot of exposure. It’s a huge congregation. And the people were warm and welcoming.”

DeGraffenreid took art classes for eight years, including some with North Carolina artist Carol Liz Fynn. For “A Brush With Color,” she entered “Red Attraction.”

Carolyn Councell entered two works, “Happy Hibiscus” and “Reflections of Late Summer.”

“I like to be spontaneous,” said the Pasadena artist. “I feel like it’s more expressive that way. It’s more lively. You intermingle the colors and really let the color take over.”

The Annapolis Watercolor Club has two more exhibits planned for 2018. “On the Town” is on display now through September 28 at Annapolis City Hall. From October 6-7 and October 13-14, another exhibit will be held at Linthicum Walks.

Membership is open to all aspiring and professional watercolor artists. The club holds monthly meetings from September to June, with featured guest artists and exhibitions, workshops and other events for members.

What can prospective members expect? Judging by the peacock, the villager and the flowerpot, almost anything goes.

“There are very traditional painters and adventurous painters,” Burns said of club members. “We want people to do what they want.”