Meet The Women of Watercolor – WOWs

Sue Archer AWS NWS TWSA FWS

Sue became involved with watercolors in 1980 after a 15 year career in Physical Education and coaching. After moving to Florida in 1979, she had the time and opportunity to enjoy watercolor painting as a hobby. The hobby developed into a full time career after extensive studies in drawing, design and color theory at local universities. The artist enjoys meeting the people buying her work, so instead of showing through galleries, she showed and competed in outdoor juried shows in Florida from 1985-2013. She also juries local and national watercolor shows and teaches watercolor workshops. She had the honor of being an award judge at the 2013 AWS Exhibition in N.Y. Sue’s interest in showing light in her paintings and using close-up, cropped imagery has been her goal for 25 years.Recently, she has been trying her hand at figures, figures in the landscape and landscapes. Experimenting with new ideas is her present interest.

Sue’s work has recently appeared in (partial list): American Artist Watercolor ’10 Summer; American Artist Watercolor ’09 Summer; Commanding Color DVD Workshop (Creative Catalyst) Oct ’08 ( www.ccpvideos.com ); Palette Magazine Jan ’07 ( www.cheapjoes.com ); International Artist Aug/Sept ‘06; Palm Beach Palate Cookbook ’06; Splash 9 (Northlight Books 2006).

Sue’s award-winning paintings are exhibited in national, regional, and state competitions and hang in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and South America. She has received numerous Best of Shows and firsts in Watercolor, she has won over200 state and national awards in outdoor shows and indoor competitive exhibitions. Sue was the recipient of a Florida State Individual Artist Fellowship grant for in 1991-1992 for painting.

CORPORATE COLLECTORS (partial list)/ Memberships

Jan Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, New Jersey; Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL; Miami Univ. Museum, Oxford, Ohio; Disneyworld Corporate Collections; McGraw Hill Corporate Collection; Orlando Aviation Authority; Manning & Napier Advisors Inc.; Sunbeam Oster Corporate Collection; Stena Shipping Lines, Sweden; Chugai Upjohn Corporate Collection; Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN.; Delta Airlines Corporate Collection, Atlanta Air Terminals; Warren Tutton, Melbourne, Australia.

Archer belongs to Watercolor USA Honor Society, The Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Honor Society, and is a signature member, of the Florida Watercolor Society, Southern Watercolor Society, Transparent Watercolor Society of America, National Watercolor Society and American Watercolor Society.

Melanie Bouton

“After working as a western-trained artist all my life, I wanted to explore the eastern art styles. In researching Chinese art, I found the ancient art form is based on principles I had not encountered in my earlier training. I became intrigued with their use of spatial relationships and flat patterns and their interpretation of linear and aerial perspective. It represented a whole set of new ideas and concepts within a philosophic context that I found new and exciting”.  Melanie has had organizational affiliations with Boca Raton Museum of Art and Artist Guild, Armory Art Center, Artists’ Guild of Lake Worth, and Women of Watercolor. She has shown her work in numerous juried group shows and one and two person shows in South Florida, Education: FAU (MA), numerous Master Workshops and classes at the Armory in WPB, the Art Student’s League in N.Y., and Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., to name a few.

Gail Ganzlin

“I don’t paint still lifes, I paint stilletos” I am always on the lookout for different subject matter in my watercolors. Shoes, tall spiky designer shoes, that I cannot wear intrigue me with the beautiful designs, they are already works of art. A former graphic designer of my own studio and now into creative writing in my retirement and playing with the grandkids.

Sandra Irwin Jackson

Sandra is a retired educator who, after over 30 years in Palm Beach County classrooms, has resurrected her inner child to rediscover her creativity. After taking classes at PBCC and The Armory Art Center in pastels, acrylics and watercolor, she took one of Sue Archer’s watercolor workshops at the Armory. She was hooked. Although Sandy began painting thinking that she preferred landscapes, she has also discovered a desire to paint the people she loves. Her style is evolv- ing as she explores various techniques. All her works are “works-in-progress.” She is an Associate Member of the Florida Watercolor Society and has exhibited with the WOW’s at the Jupiter Town Hall Gallery of Art in 2012.

Jean Hochstetler

Jean has enjoyed watercolor painting for over ten years following a move to Ormond Beach with her husband, Dave, in 2004. She studied art in her curriculum for Fashion Merchandising at Berry College and Florida State University, and began painting instruction at the Art League of Daytona Beach after retiring. Jean transitioned northward to the Flagler County Art League, participating in juried shows and workshops with instruction by nationally recognized watercolorists. She focuses on Florida’s rich flora and wildlife as well as pet portraits. Her paintings have sold locally as well as in Volusia and Flagler Counties.  Jean and Dave returned to this area when she heard a dear little fellow call her “Nana”. While her most rewarding role is that of grandmother, she looks forward to many years of discovering new subjects to interpret in paint. She was recently accepted as a member of “WOW” (Women of Watercolor). Juried Shows include Lighthouse ArtCenter, Tequesta, Flagler County Art League, Daytona Beach Art League.

Katheryn (Kitty) Burri Schachter

Kitty was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from William Woods University with Bachelors in Art and Equestrian Studies in 1975. Kitty never did a thing with her art back-ground until an incidental finding of a brain aneurysm in 1995. She then decided time might be running out, so “I better start doing what I love”. She started drawing again; and did have the darn thing clipped. Kitty took some watercolor classes at the Armory Art Center and met Sue Archer by accident. She’s been her “fearless leader” ever since. Kitty does commissioned equine and canine portraits along with paintings for shows and personal pleasure. Kitty has a very recognizable style, which is the result of usually treating 300 lb hot press Arches paper with acrylic matte medium before using transparent watercolor. This pre-treatment gives her paintings a unique textural quality and allows lifting back to light values. She is now a signature member of the Florida Watercolor Society.

Kitty has participated in numerous exhibitions and been awarded for her paintings including: Palm Beach Watercolor Society Exhibition, Fl 2005; Missouri National Watercolor Society Exhibition 2006; Women of Watercolor Exhibition, McArthur State Park, Fl 2006 Palm Beach Polo and Country Club Exhibit, Wellington, Fl 2006 Florida Watercolor Society, Sarasota, Fl 2006;Women of Watercolor Exhibit, Governors Club West Palm, FL. 2007 Florida Watercolor Exhibition, Daytona Beach, Fl. 2007; Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust Co. /Daytona Beach News Journal award; Lake Worth Art League Invitational Exhibition, Lake Worth, Fl. 2008 2nd place award
Lake Worth Art League Invitational Exhibition, Lake Worth, 2009 Florida Watercolor Society Exhibition, Delray, Fl. 2009; Canson Fine Art paper/Pearl Foundation award; Florida Watercolor Signature Membership; Florida Watercolor Society Exhibition, Dunnedin, Fl. 2010 demonstrations; Florida Watercolor Convention 2011; Goldcoast Watercolor Society 2012.

Susan Thomas

“I was raised in central Ohio and have always spent my summers in Northern Michigan. It was through a summer job “up north” that I stumbled into the resort communities of South Florida where I have lived for 40 years. My art educa- tion came through the craft side instead of fine arts but am glad that stepped into a beginning watercolor class at the Armory, I have taken workshops here and in Michigan. It was an issue with water that made me include a Chinese Watercolor class and found that I enjoyed it. Recently I have found the need to step back out of the tightly controlled venue and come back to transparent watercolors and its creativity. I have shown my works at Three Pines Gallery in Cross Village MI, Columbus School for Girls Alumni shows, Lake Worth Art League Show and The Armory’s student art shows”.

Janice Hill

Jani graduated with a double major in Art and Education from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. She taught school for several years in Madison, Milwaukee and Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. She helped originate The Oconomowoc Art Festival, which is still going on. In 1978 she moved to the Chicago area and has been in the Crystal Lake area ever since. She entered the retail market and was a store manager for an upscale department store and later opened a bridal boutique.  In 2004, she and her husband bought a second home in Jupiter, Fl. and after 40 years, she returned to painting watercolors. Her subject matter is landscapes and florals, painting only what she has experienced or photographed. She uses a controlled palette of warm and cool primary colors, mixing all the secondary and tertiary colors from these.“My desire is to have the viewer feel the ambiance of the scene and transcend into it. I find it fascinating, ever-changing, frustrating, and elating. One doesn’t know what will happen; therefore a careful drawing and planning are always vital for me. My journey in watercolor is a constant learning experience that I enjoy tremendously.”  She has studied with Bridget Austin, Karen Bastidas, Terry Madden, Frank Webb, Steve Rogers, Nita Engle, and Sue Archer. Jani has done numerous outdoor art festivals in Florida for 3 years in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Hobe Sound, Jupiter, Stuart and Naples. She has exhibited with the WOWs in 2009 and 2010.

Katherine (Bunny) Jones

Bunny grew up in Washington,D.C. She attended Connecticut College. While she did not major in art, she has taken classes throughout her life. After moving to Florida in 1970, she studied oil painting with Virginia Seitz and at The Norton School of Art. Then she discovered watercolor and started classes at The Armory School of Art. In the 1980’s she started a business designing handpainted items for the home. She has taken many watercolor workshops with Tony Couch, Skip Lawrence, Charles Reid, Don Andrews and pastel workshops with Albert Handell and Elsie Dresch. Most important has been her relationship over the past 10 years with Sue Archer who has provided exceptional instruction and critiques. She has exhibited in The Palm Beach Watercolor Society Invitational, Women of Watercolor exhibitions at MacArthur State Park,The Govenor’s Club and South Palm Beach,The Lake Worth At League Invitational, The Bascom Gallery in Highlands,NC, the Lake Toxaway Art Exhibit and the Transylvania Art League Exhibit in Brevard, NC.

Maurice Kathryn Dennis (Candy)

Maurice is a graduate of Syracuse University with a Fine Arts Degree and was a professional art teacher in the Stamford, Ct school system for over 20 years. Presently she is a resident of Delray Beach, Fl. Her original media consisted of large wood constructions and collages that were shown in a two women show in the Stamford Museum. Now she does water- color painting, experimenting with the pouring technique. Candy and her husband travel extensively and she uses this resourse for ideas for painting. Candy is a member of the WOWs (Women of Watercolor) and has exhibited with them at MacArthur State Park, The Governor’s Club, South Palm Beach, and The Lake Worth Art League Invitational in 2009 and 2010.

Ellen Postrel

After many years of training in oil and acrylics, Ellen Postrel found watercolor and never looked back. The award-winning watercolorist Sue Archer has been her mentor and workshops with Charles Reid helped to enhance Ellen’s ability to transform white paper with vibrant color. Ellen has gone green. She is passionate about painting colorful vegetables and flowers displayed at farm stands and markets. Recently Ellen became enamored with the body language of shoppers eyeing food and plants. Ellen studies her subject deeply before beginning a painting, using photographs and reference books. Choosing what to leave unsaid is her niche. Once the painting begins, she forgets all rules. Ellen has shown her watercolors in Delray Beach at two International Orchid Society shows and the Palm Beach Water Color Society. In February 2011, Ellen received a prize at the juried show at the Crest Gallery. In New York, Ellen has exhibited at the Clothesline Art Show in East Hampton, the Westhampton Beach Library, the Quogue Library, and the Gallery at the Flowers at the Greenery. In the summer of 2010, Ellen’s painting was selected as one of the best 50 covers in 50 years of Dan’s Papers based in Bridgehampton, New York. Ellen resides during the winter months in Boca Raton, Florida, and spends the summers in Westhampton Beach, New York. She is a member of the Palm Beach Water Color Society, Women of Watercolor in Fl. and the East End Arts Council in Riverhead, New York.

Elizabeth Percy

“Always intrigued with watercolors, I took my first class in the early 2000’s. As an educator for many years, I taught Fashion Production and worked with the elements of design. Consequently, watercolor painting has given me an excellent opportunity to continue with classes At PBSC. I now enjoy painting with Women of Watercolor. I enjoy painting what I see outside every day, flowers, landscape and from my extensive travel photos. My paintings are now on display at “Ralph’s Place Restaurant in P.B.G. and in the WOW exhibitions”.