President’s Palette

Every month, I must write my “President’s Palette” for our newsletter. True confessions, I love writing and newsletters are fun to write. It’s all good.  

Every month, I must think of what to say. This month, I’m going to do something a wee bit different. Don’t all plotz--it won’t hurt. 

It occurs to me that everyone, naturally, knows that I’m the president of Baltimore Watercolor Society, but do they know that we have seventeen people on the board and do they have any clue as to what they do? I thought not. Well, dear members, I’m going to introduce you to our truly outstanding, matchless board. Then, you can appreciate what they do for you and for all of us.

1. Matt Fenton, Vice President. Matt is a calm presence in our organization, who runs a great bus trip to wherever we want to go and does it with assurance and a smile and is a fine support for me. 
2. April Rimpo, Treasurer. I told April, who just amazes me with her knowledge, that when I was treasurer of another organization, the only thing I did correctly was not steal the treasury. She’s a true marvel of competence and composure and is always right. 
3. Janet Hansen-Martinet, Secretary. I always love seeing Janet on our Zoom board meetings, as she always has a new and different background behind her. Fun! But she’s also a great and very proficient secretary. 
4. David Drown, Exhibit Chair. If there’s a place in our region that David hasn’t discovered for our exhibits, I haven’t heard of it. Every show is a major success, because of David’s excellent research and willingness to travel. 
5. Karen Norman, Historian/Archivist. Her title says it all, but her activities tell us a lot more about our beloved organization—who founded it, how we’ve meandered along for 141 years, etc. Good job, Karen! 
6. Janet Arsenault, Jurying Chair. This is a huge job, which Janet fulfills with grace and good humor, which she needs as she’s the one who puts together those photos from which we choose our Signature artists, and she’s also the one who sends out the yea and nay letters. Yeas are fun. Nays, not so much. 
7. Janice Hendra, Membership Chair. This isn’t an easy position, but Janice manages to organize membership applications quickly and quietly and voila! We have more members! She’s plain amazing. 
8. Jim Sandford, Mid-Atlantic Regional Chair. I will never know how Jim gets everything done for this storied show, Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibition, without tearing his hair out and screaming, but he maintains calm throughout. It’s always perfect.
9. Janelle Sandford, Mid-Atlantic Regional Assistant. Jim’s assistant, whose kindness and organization are legendary, is his wife and a doctor. How many organizations have a doc on board?! 
10. Janet Freeman, Mid-Atlantic Awards Chair. It sounds easy, doesn’t it, just bestow a few measly awards on our Mid-Atlantic winners and we’re good... Well, it’s not, and guess what, Janet must ask for donations and a lot more. A LOT more. 
11. Kia Penso, Newsletter Editor. Kia took this very difficult job on from wonderful Devin Lulu, our editor for four years, and she’s done such a good job that it’s been an easier transition than all thought possible. Thank you, Kia! 
12. Yogini Dahiwadkar, Program Chair. Which means that Yogini is not only in charge of programs, such as the ones on Zoom, but she’s also in charge of workshops. Just wow and wow with a smile! 
13. Sharon A. Green, Protocol Adviser and Volunteer Recruiter, and every other single thing you can think of. Sharon has done and done extraordinarily well. Plus, she has one of the best speaking voices—I always think that she could read a grocery list out loud and I’d be enthralled .
14. Lia Nigro, Social Media Chair. Lia is the man! No snarky comments, please. She’s a wonderful writer and fabulous at navigating the ins and outs of social media, for which she deserves kudos. 
15. Robert J. Coe, Webmaster Chair. If it’s  computer-related, Bob knows about it—he’s a true master of the medium and a fine artist who made us the most beautiful invitations for our 140th birthday. Thank you, Bob. 
16. Jennifer Azar, Publicity Chair. Jennifer is the one who made sure that I was on TV twice, and yes, I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille, and she also introduced Jim Sandford and me to a writer for several American art magazines. Isn't she great?

So, dear members, now you know who does what. And now you can see why I feel so fortunate to work with such an exceptional board. Am I not blessed? Is BWS not blessed too?

Jennifer Kohn Murtha
President, Baltimore Watercolor Society

Deborah Conn Wins the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Exhibition Artists’ Choice Prize

Each year the Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition awards one additional prize beyond those determined by the exhibition juror.  The Artists’ Choice prize is awarded to the Mid-Atlantic Exhibition painting receiving the most votes from BWS Membership and non-members who applied to the exhibition.

This year’s clear winner was Deborah Conn’s painting Hiding in Plain Sight.  Deborah is a Watermedia Master Elite (WME) Signature Member of BWS.  This is her 13th acceptance into the Mid-Atlantic Exhibition.

Congratulations Deborah!

The history of BWS and a notice of our 2025 exhibition, published in L’Art De L’Aquarelle, No. 67, Déc 2025–Fév 2026.

BWS Semi-Annual Jurying for Signature Artist Status Registration

Janet Arsenault, Jury Chair

For those interested in attaining Signature membership status, the next opportunity to submit paintings for March jurying begins now! Please check the application packet for detailed information including the deadline for submission date. Look under Upcoming Events on the BWS website and scroll down to open the notice for jurying. Questions can be sent to janetarsenault@baltimorewatercolorsociety.org.

View the Founders Paintings from BWS Members for the 140th Anniversary Celebration

If you were unable to join us for the BWS 140th Anniversary Party in November, or if you were there and want to take another look, the images of BWS Founders painted by some of our members are available for you to look at on our SmugMug site. Just click on the link below or copy it into your computer browser.  Once you are in the site, you can click on the little sideways triangle “play” button to cycle through a slideshow, or just select images to view one at a time.

https://baltimorewatercolorsociety.smugmug.com/Events/BWS-140th-Anniversary-Celebration-Paint-the-Founders

Many thanks to the BWS members who contributed paintings for this event—we had a lot of fun with this.

In addition to donating towards a Mid-Atlantic award, Holbein has provided 15ml sample paint tubes as hand-outs/door prizes for BWS workshops.

Jeannette Birger

Denise E. Brown

Cheryl Coniglio

Fran Drisgill

Carol L. Ganss

Janice Hendra

Carol Mann

Candace Naumowicz-Zacher

Christine W. Porter

Carolyn Smith

Margaret M. Suddeth

Robert N. Talbert

Monica Wilkins

Stephen T. Hanks

Learn about the Potomac Valley Watercolorists, one of our BWS Mid-Atlantic Sponsors of Awards. Perhaps you'll want to join them. Visit www.potomacvalleywatercolorists.org for more information.