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WAS-H is beginning a new “Instructor Spotlight” series, which will feature a different class teacher in each installment. In our current issue, we introduce Laura Spector.
Laura Spector is a Houston-based artist and art instructor. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She is best known for her acclaimed Museum Anatomy project which began in 1996, where she collaborated with museum curators in 16 countries searching for hidden, stolen, lost and destroyed paintings to be recontextualized in paint onto the human body. Among Spector’s honors are a Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, an Individual Grant from Houston Art Alliance, the Sovereign Asian Art Finalist Award, Hong Kong; and an Artist-in-residence at AtelierHaus Hilmsen, Hilmsen, Germany. Spector is currently an Artist-in-Residence recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation. In November 2022, she will exhibit (w)Hole, a collective exhibition based on grief, apology, and healing at The Jung Center in Houston, TX.
Laura began teaching art to adults in her Thailand studio in 2004. She has taught classes at WAS-H since 2018.
Her courses have included:
Introduction to Silverpoint, Introduction to Liquid Charcoal, Liquid Charcoal Silverscreen Stars, The Wet and Dry Charcoal Portrait and The Simplified Floral Still Life.
Upcoming virtual courses include:
An Introduction to Florals in Gouache, A Silver Screen Portrait in Wet & Dry Charcoal, The Simplified Floral Still Life in Gouache
She enjoys teaching silverpoint, graphite, charcoal, acrylic, gouache, oils, and watercolors. When she’s not teaching she is either at her studio painting or at home with her husband and two cats, Ziggy and Shazam.
Current Exhibitions and Lectures
Listen to interviews with Laura Spector on KPFT Radio on Wednesday, November 30th at 7pm, and Houston Matters on NPR on Thursday, December 1st. You can listen to her interview with Houston Matters, which has fabulous information about the exhibit starting at the 12 minute mark: Houston Matters with Craig Cohen
Upcoming WAS-H Classes:
Laura has several upcoming classes. Her class in December is Virtual - An Introduction to Florals in Gouache. There is an afternoon and an evening offering, December 6th and 13th.
You can find more information about this and her other classes under our education section of our website.
By Cissy Geigerman , WAS-H Gallery Co-Director
Our gallery is “a-WASH” with small treasures just in time for holiday shopping. This exhibit is full of small framed paintings and unframed works that are available to purchase and carry away. It is amazing to see so much creative effort in these little wonders. Restrictions for framed paintings are lifted and the effects are handsome indeed.
In order to display everything, we decided to hang the unframed, matted paintings on soft gallery panels. The lesson here is, be careful what you wish for! Our members really stepped up and submitted over 90 framed paintings and over 200 unframed items. We were able to hang almost everything with the timely help of our volunteers. Bella Attia is a decorating whiz. She was given a bundle of supplies, a free rein, and the results are great! Mansueto Fabugais is becoming expert in hanging frames at just the right height. Irene Sheytman was just walking through and jumped in to help hang the matted paintings, and re-hang them because they were falling off. We are delighted to have positive feedback from visitors at the reception.
Our random winner of a $100.00 gift is William Owens. He also has framed paintings on display. Be sure to visit the gallery often during this show because the paintings may be replaced with new works as they are sold.
The show continues through the end of the year.
We invite you to join us during our member holiday party on December 4 if you haven't seen the exhibit yet. It will be FUN!
January 2023 Exhibit Theme: EXPERIMENTAL
Artists are encouraged to use non-traditional ideas and materials for this month’s exhibit. Any surface is allowed but media must be at least 80% water soluble such as watercolor, gouache, acrylic, egg tempura, casein, charcoal or ink.
The prospectus for January’s exhibit is HERE.
February 2023 Exhibit Theme: FIRE & ICE
Drama, passion! February is the month for both. Paintings are a way to express our emotions without spoken language. This month, we will try to make a connection with others through this outlet. Paintings can have general subjects and aim to convey an emotional aspect.
February prospectus will be available soon.
Come to the Gallery and celebrate a fabulous year of watercolor wonders! We hope you find connection and comradery here.
We will have several activities you can participate in while at the party, to include:
This is a "pot-luck" event, so bring a dish or treat to share. To ensure we have a variety of food, snacks, and drinks, email the Artist Liaison or click on This link to fill out a form with the item you plan to bring so we can ensure we do not duplicate efforts.
Artist Laura Spector has created three instagram videos with information about her upcoming virtual Gouache classes at WAS-H which are Dec 6 and Dec 13th, either afternoon or evening. You can see them Here, Here, and Here.
She also invites us to attend an exhibit at the Jung Center which runs through December 20th. Details are below:
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Emery Thomas "Tom" Kraycirik, at the age of 75, on October 24, 2022. Tom was a dedicated WAS-H Member, volunteer and friend. Tom also served as the International Watermedia Exhibition Director for the past few years.
The family is hosting two celebrations where memories and stories will be shared to honor Tom.
Saturday, November 5th from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.,
Home of Kate Kraycirik and Mike Smith,
2069 Southgate Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030.
Saturday, November 12th from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Danevang Lutheran Church - Community Hall
357 County Road 426, Danevang, Texas 77432
As mentioned in his obituary HERE, the family asks that donations in memory of Tom should be directed to the establishment of the ET Kraycirik Memorial Prize, International Watercolor Exhibition, Watercolor Arts Society Houston (LINK HERE), 1601 W. Alabama St, Houston, Texas 77006.
By Karen Stopnicki, WAS-H President
Dear WAS-H Friends,
I live in a house of sports fans, which is more apparent with the Astros in the World Series. I’ve been thinking about being a fan, and while I enjoy sports, and our hometown teams, I have decided that I am the biggest fan of art. And my favorite team is WAS-H. I suspect many of you are fans of art and team WAS-H, too. We don’t cheer loudly at good demos or drop peanut shells on the floors at exhibits, but we do “ooh and ahh,” and we feel great connecting with each other in support of our team WAS-H.
We are looking forward to our Small Treasures Holiday Bazaar, entry deadline is Wednesday, November 2, and the opening reception is Sunday, November 6 following our General Meeting. The show will be up through December and feature smaller paintings priced to sell, making great gifts for friends, family or yourself!
Our General Meeting on Sunday, November 6 begins at 2pm and will feature a great demo with Ed Pettitt, Urban Sketcher extraordinaire. A “must see” demo, Ed will show us how to map our personal reflections and environments with his unique tools and techniques. Our meetings are a great chance to get together with others in the WAS-H community.
The last Paint-In for the year with Lynn Chatman is this Saturday, November 5, and has a wait list open. Joanie Hughes will be our January Paint-In instructor and Alison Hendry will be on the calendar for February. Keep an eye out for those to open for registration soon.
The January Gallery Show theme will be Experimental and February Gallery Show theme will be Fire and Ice, so look for the prospectuses to be available soon. Speaking of shows, the International Watermedia Exhibit is now open for entry, the prospectus is HERE.
As I close, I ask you to look for the letter we just mailed to members asking for your support. As a non-profit organization, we depend on you to donate funds to maintain our facility, put on our current programs, and expand with more. Donations are the primary form of revenue each year, followed by membership dues. The bulk of the revenue from our classes support our teaching artists – helping them continue their art practice and share their knowledge. We are grateful to have so much to offer at WAS-H, and we would be thankful for any support you choose to offer. If you like, you can donate online HERE.
As we enter November, I am sending you my warm wishes from home to home and from heart to heart to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am appreciative to all of you for being a part of WAS-H. I hope to see you soon!
Warm Regards,
Karen Houston Stopnicki
WAS-H is thrilled to host multi-talented Ed Pettitt for a demo on using watercolor map-making to tell our stories. After pursuing studio art in high school, Ed shifted to biomedical science in college, joined the Peace Corp to develop treatment programs in Africa, moved to Houston to complete his Master of Public Health degree, then pursued his interests in ethnography and urban development as a doctoral student in urban planning and environmental policy, where he uses watercolor sketching as a way to process, critique, and engage the changing urban landscape. Don’t miss spending time Sunday at 2p.m. with Ed as he tells his story and demonstrates how to map our stories in watercolor sketching.
by Donna Schultz Van Fleet, IWE Chair
For more than forty-five years, this globally recognized competition has attracted artists from as far away as China and India, and the corresponding, month-long exhibit has been a staple in the art community attended by art collectors and enthusiasts. The 2022 IWE received entries from almost 200 artists from 34 states and 5 nations. From the almost 400 submitted pieces of art, nearly 100 were invited to be displayed in what was described by culture and entertainment journalist Andrew Dansby as "a feast of astounding works."
The 46th International Watermedia Exhibition will showcase artistic excellence of global participants from March 5 – March 30, 2023 at the WAS-H Gallery, and winners will be awarded over $10,000 in cash prizes.
Acclaimed watercolor artist, Brenda Swenson, will serve as juror and judge for the event. Additionally, Swenson will instruct a four-day workshop coincident with the exhibition. A Signature Artist in WW, NWWS, SDWS and CWA, Swenson's art has been featured in several volumes of "Splash: Best of Watercolor", "Watercolor Artist", "Watercolor Magazine", "Watercolor Highlights", "Plein Air Magazine" and numerous other publications. She is the author of two books and an active participant in the arts community as 1st Vice-President of the California Art Club, as well as having served on the board of directors for the National Watercolor Society and Watercolor West.
Entries are submitted through Call for Entry (CaFE') at this link HERE
The deadline for artist submissions is January 13, 2023, and invited entries must be received at the WAS-H gallery by 3:00 p.m. CST, on February 28, 2023, to be included in the exhibition.
To view the Prospectus: Click Here
This exhibit is different from our typical monthly exhibit and understandably we've received lots of questions. We will answer the most frequently asked ones here:
Q: If I enter four framed paintings, can I also enter cards and unframed paintings? YES! The registration link is different, but it works the same way.
Q: If I finish my holiday cards later than the deadline, can I still bring them in? Yes, if you have signed up to submit up to 30 pieces and you have not exceeded the 30-piece limit, you may bring in additional pieces throughout the month of November.
Q: Do my framed pieces have to be wired? Yes, these pieces will be hung on the wall, so we need them to be wired.
Q: Do my unframed pieces have to be wired? No, these pieces will be placed in baskets in the gallery or hung differently. They will not be hung using a wire.
Q. How much do I charge? That's up to you. Remember that WAS-H receives 25% of what you charge and if framed, the frame goes with the painting.
Q. This exhibit is called "Small Treasures," does that mean that my paintings need to have that as a theme? No, the theme of your paintings can be anything. The only thing you need to keep in mind for this show is that your painting can be no larger than 15" x 15".
Q. Do the unframed pieces also have to be small? Yes, the 15" x 15" size limit also applies to unframed paintings.
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