American Watercolorists in China

News has been pouring into our offices recently from some of our favorite watercolor artists who were invited to exhibit in the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennale. We thought we'd take this opportunity to share the juicy details with you:

The largest watercolor exhibition in the world, the Biennale is being held April through October in conjunction with the World Expo in China, where they're expecting more than 70 million visitors. Nicholas Simmons was the only judge representing the Americas and will also be exhibiting his work. The jurors, who also included David Paskett from the U.K. and Ong Kim Seng from Singapore, juried more than 2,300 entries from all over the world, chose 230 to hang and gave out 15 equal awards. Among the American award-winners were Mark Mehaffey, John Salminen and Alvaro Castagnet.

Click here to see Simmons' visual diary of the trip, where you'll find images like the one pictured above and a lot more. Plus, click here to find out which of the artists mentioned above was in our studio last week shooting watercolor and acrylic videos for ArtistsNetwork.tv.

The World of Watercolor

In other watercolor-related news, the Fallbrook Art Center, in Fallbrook, California, is currently celebrating the "World of Watercolor" with a double-bill of top-notch shows on view through March 28.

The Center's inaugural Signature American Watercolor Exhibition showcases works by 29 artists who have, as the exhibition name suggests, achieved signature membership status in a recognized U.S. watercolor society or association. The event is held in conjunction with the National Watercolor Society's 89th Annual Exhibition Travel Show—an additional 30 masterpieces—which is on its first stop of the 2010 tour.

The NWS show travels next to South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in April; Zanesville, Ohio, in June; Kerrville, Texas, in August; and Pleasanton, California, in October. You'll find more details at the NWS website.

It's Show Time

If all of this talk about shows and exhibitions has you thinking about the competition season around the corner, you're not alone. Join Maureen Bloomfield (Editor in Chief of The Artist's Magazine and frequent juror of regional and national shows) as she tackles your toughest competition questions in her latest online seminar. She'll show you how to enhance your chances for success by making more informed choices. Folks who sign up for the seminar will also receive a free digital copy of our guide, "Photography for Artists." We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that our own competition, the Watermedia Showcase, is now open for entry. Last year's fourth place winner, Lacrimosa by Kara Castro, is pictured above.

Arts Advocacy Day

Mark your calendar: The 23rd Annual Arts Advocacy Day National Arts Action Summit takes place April 12-13 in Washington, D.C. The two-day conference includes an opportunity to speak with legislators about arts and arts education, meet other advocates and attend the annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. Register for the conference and learn more about Arts Advocacy Day at www.americansforthearts.org. Get news like this and more in Watercolor Artist's "Making a Splash" column. You'll find it in every issue of the magazine.

The Best Back Issue Sale Ever

Does your Watercolor Artist magazine collection go back to the days when we were still known as Watercolor Magic? Do you still have your copies of our special issues, such as Watercolor Sketchbook? If not, now's the time to complete your library. We've run out of space in our warehouse, which means we can no longer house all of those excellent issues from years past. Our golden oldies (any issue published in 2007 or earlier) are now available for the remarkably low price of $2.00 each in our online store. Click here to take advantage of the best back issue sale ever!

Spread the Word

The Watercolor Artist Newsletter is an electronic newsletter devoted exclusively to watermedia and designed especially for you, the watermedia artist. Spread the word by forwarding this message to your friends in the fold. Discover how to do so under "About Your Subscription," below.

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