Just got home from the American Watercolor Society Awards Dinner.  I really enjoyed the exhibition and I have to say that the photographs of these paintings do not do them justice.  I met some delightful people.  F. Charles Sharpe was so nice and welcoming to this newcomer and stranger.  He had lots of great advice.  A man after my own heart - clearly loves color.  Charming - I would call him charming.  It was fun talking to someone without an accent.  His speech, upon receiving his AWS signature, was very touching.  Martha Lorch was so much fun!  She and her husband sat at our table.  Look at her painting - unbelievable!  She captures emotion beautifully.  I just wish you could see it in person.  Irena Roman sat at our table as well.  How neat that our paintings are listed on the same page in the catalog.  We had so much in common!  Our backgrounds were similar and I lived practically down the street from her when I was little.  Her painting shows kitchen items that belonged to her mother.  What a lovely and beautiful tribute.  She told me my painting was "bold".  Fantastic!  Also at our table was Mark J. Schiff from Connecticut who was a wealth of information about New York, which was very useful.  Ronnie Cutler sat across the table from me, so unfortunately, I didn't really get to speak with her.  She is 89-years-old and attends these functions as often as possible.   I met Daniel Vangeli briefly while standing in line for cake.  I regret to say that I did not meet Antonio Masi.  I know, I know, but it flies in the face of my military upbringing to approach someone, let alone one of my heroes, without an introduction.  Oh well, I was pretty close.  Those who know me will understand it is just not in my nature.  The weather was so beautiful that evening, we walked all the way back to the hotel.  

"Imagination is the wide-open eye which leads us always to see truth more vividly."  - Christopher Fry

Nice little article in the Democrat Gazette yesterday about the painting "Werner at Crystal Bridges".  

"Sometimes the path you're on is not as important as the direction you're heading."  - Kevin Smith