Essex Water Color Club

SHOW NEWS:

CRANE'S MILL SHOW!  FIRST SHOW OF 2026-2027 NEW SEASON!

Our current show runs to October 2, 2026 in the lovely Crane's Mill of West Caldwell.  The reception/pickup date is October 2 from 4 pm to 6 pm, our first get together with members in our new season!  You can see a sample of the wonderful paintings by our talented members in the slideshow above!  Bring your family and friends to the reception, and a snack to share, and meet your fellow artists and the newest board members.  You will also be able to vote for the "People's Choice" award at the reception. See the events page for location details. 

FALL 2026 FEATURED ARTIST, DEBBIE TURTLETAUB

We are very pleased to present Debbie as our Fall 2026 featured artist.   Debbie's work reflects her love of the medium of watercolor. She currently lives in Florham Park, after almost 40 years in Livingston, NJ. She has been painting since she was 10 years old, majored in studio art in college, and worked as an art director in advertising.  Debbie took watercolor lessons 30 years ago and has never looked back!  She enjoys painting landscapes, some florals, and especially snow scenes, "as the colors in the snow fascinate me".  Debbie also has experience with charcoal, oils, pastels and acrylics.  To learn more about Debbie's journey, and to see her paintings, click on this link: https://www.ewcclub.com/?keyvalue=50115&subkeyvalue=232100&page=ViewCollection

DEMONSTRATION/WORKSHOP NEWS:

We have an very exciting line up for the 2026-2027 season for our members, and details are on the events page:  

• To start off the new season, we have an in-person demonstration by Theresa Trois Heidel on October 11 from 2-4 pm at the Livingston Community Center.   Theresa paints on location often, with scenes including NJ houses, sea scapes and landscapes.  She also enjoys painting florals, as well as scenes from her travels to Italy and France.  Here is an example of one of her exciting seascapes:

• On November 8, Ken Stanek from Maplewood will demonstrate his unique watercolor approach, in person from 2-4 pm at the Livingston Community Center.   We are excited to have him demonstrate his eclectic style of painting for us on November 8, in person.  You can see some of his work below, including animal paintings and downtown Maplewood. This is sure to be an exhilarating afternoon of watching a wonderful painter demonstrate his art for us! 

• Once again we bring together three of our wonderful artists on December 13, in person at the Livingston Community Center from 2-4 pm for our annual critique and holiday get together.  Bring a painting that you would like some advice on, perhaps how to enhance it, how to finish it, or just to get some feedback from other artists as to how you can improve it.  You can bring up to 2 paintings to the critique.  This is always a great time for club members to get together and share their thoughts on the process of working in this medium. 

• On January 10, 2027, the renowned Graham Boothe will present a demonstration to the club via Zoom from 2 pm to 4 pm.  Graham has conducted demonstrations for our club several times, and his teaching method and enthusiasm are always a big success with our members.  Here is an example of his work, "Nice Market". 

• Judy Hummer will present an in-person demonstration on March 14 in the Livingston Community Center from 2-4 pm. Here is one example of her lovely work, "Irish Poppies":

• April 11 will be the last demonstration of the 2026-2027 season, and that demonstration will be by Sharon Pitts, at the Livingston Community Center from 2-4 pm.  Here is just one example of her exciting work:

• Ann Smiga Greene, who did a demonstration for the club (you can see her demo description below) in April, 2026, will be doing a full day workshop on May 16, 2027 for club members, so check the website in the future for information on what will be a very exciting experience in abstract watercolor painting! Here is another example of her wonderful work, "Figuratively Speaking":
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So please join us for all of these exciting demonstrations and workshop, and check the events page for all details!

LAST SEASON'S DEMONSTRATION/WORKSHOP NEWS (IN CASE YOU MISSED ANYTHING!):

ANN GREENE, AWS, WATERCOLOR AND GOACHE IN PERSON DEMONSTRATION, APRIL 12, 2026

30 of our members attended Ann's dynamic abstract painting demonstration and were lucky to see this wonderful artist and learn her thought processes in creating her exciting paintings!  A few takeaways from the demo included:

• Supplies include watercolors, goache colors, flat brushes, white crayon, permanent black markers, water-soluble charcoal, water-soluble crayons and pencils
• At the midpoint of the painting process, Anne decides on the subject that emerges from her first mark making on the paper, and carves out her negative shapes using goache to isolate the shapes
• Her advice: "Your job is to create something interesting...you don't need to tell everything". 

Here are some images of Ann's supplies, her finished work "Jazz Band" in progress, as well as our winner of the raffled painting, June Fisher- Markowitz.  It was an enjoyable and valuable learning experience for all who attended. 

Another recent demonstration on March 8 was by the renowned artist Michael Holter.  Michael walked us through his process for painting a city scene of a church in Boston. He painted the scene in 3 stages: light, medium and dark washes. Amazingly, he changed the scene from the photo reference to make it uniquely his own by adding foliage, people and birds in the sky, of course. You can view the entire in the link below, and you can also visit his website at https://www.michaelholter.com. Michael is truly a master of watercolor, and an extremely engaging teacher as well.  Here he is holding the finished painting: 

HOLTER DEMO

ZOOM WORKSHOP WITH DALE POPOVICH JANUARY 11, 2026

Dale taught a Zoom workshop to 13 lucky club members on January 11 from 1 pm to 4 pm.  Dale's subject was "Understanding the flow of water in watercolor:  structure, rhythm and design".  Dale is such a patient and thorough teacher, and each artist attending was able to paint along with him on this challenging subject.  It was exciting, dynamic and a wonderful experience to paint with this master of watercolor in nature.  As a bonus, Dale generously raffled off his demo painting to one of our members, Jan Williamson! Below you can see his photo reference, value study, sketch and final painting!

DALE POPOVICH DEMONSTRATION

On October 12, 2025, Dale Popovich demonstrated his unique approach to painting via Zoom for many of our members. Dale is an award-winning watercolorist and teacher who is passionate about capturing the raw beauty of the American landscape with the fluid stroke of a brush.  His presentation concentrated on a fall scene in the woods, and his layering of color and textures was inspiring.  Dale's teaching method is so clear and direct that one comes away with the tools to create an amazing landscape.  Members can watch the complete demo video here:  Dale Popovich EWCC October 2025.mp4. Here is the final painting:  

VLADISLAV YELISEYEV

On November 2 we had a wonderful workshop with Vlad, who led the attendees in the use of color to achieve an interpretation of natural lighting in cityscapes. All who attended were impressed with the speed of his painting and his expansive knowledge of the use of watercolor.  You can see a closeup of his beginning washes below, as well as Joyce Chang's interpretation of the finished painting!

ANDY EVANSEN

Andy Evansen, another famous watercolor artist, did a Zoom demonstration for  the club on November 9. Andy loves painting on location and is known for his landscapes.   Andy showed the attendees how he wets both sides of the paper, does not use tape, lets the painting dry on its own so the colors settle, works on his value study and follows it as his "action plan" throughout the painting process.  He goes back to the value study and puts the darks in before putting the darks on the final painting.  Most of his paintings are done in 3 hours.  Andy is a wonderful painter and teacher, and all who attended learned a great deal! Here is the link to the video:Andy Evansen demo November 2025.mp4  You can see his light and dark washes below, as well as his reference photo, value study and final painting: 

MEMBERSHIP NEWS:

OUR 95th  SEASON BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2026...TIME TO JOIN EWCC OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP...see https://userfiles.faso.us/50115/26451.pdf  to access the membership form and information. We urge you to join or renew so that we can continue to offer the best events designed to give you the tools to improve your own paintings, or to start your watercolor journey. 

Essex Watercolor Club is not just for Essex county residents!  We have members from many NJ counties, and some of our demos and workshops are on Zoom, so you don't have to travel to take advantage of  teaching and camaraderie that happens in the club.  In our 2026-2027 season we are featuring more demos in person, which makes for an ideal time to get to know your fellow artists.