From Pigment to Pixels, An All-Member Online Exhibition

The Baltimore Watercolor Society recently teamed up with the Baltimore LED Art Billboard to feature the work of some of our members from January 12 through January 15. The images will cycle on the Billboard approximately every 2 minutes, 24 hours per day. 

Baltimore LED Art Billboard says this about the billboard, 

"It ’s the largest digital sign in the entire Mid-Atlantic region as there is no larger digital sign between NYC and Atlanta. It’s located directly next to Baltimore’s Penn Station, a major East Coast transportation hub, and can be seen from multiple angles and approaches throughout the area, including the train station itself.

This digital spectacular serves as the entryway to the Baltimore Arts District and leads directly into the business district. This vibrant area is home to theaters, opera houses, restaurants, and many local attractions. It is blocks away from major universities including Johns Hopkins, Loyola University, University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute of Art. It is just 1.5 miles from the Inner Harbor and sports stadiums and serves as a direct feeder to Interstate 83, a major highway."

Baltimore Watercolor Society is thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our members.

Our judge, Elaine Florimonte, selected eight award winners, with the top four featured on the Baltimore LED Art Billboard, above 1700 North Charles Street in Downtown Baltimore. 

Below you can see the eight award-winners. You can see all of the entries  in the online-only exhibition From Pigment to Pixels, An All-Member Online Exhibition.

My juror remarks:

Design became the most important criteria for my selections. With the large number of beautifully crafted and diverse works, the selection process for this jury was difficult. But final selections were made based on the design principles that guide all two-dimensional visual arts; contrast, composition, color and emphasis. The four Billboard Awardees were chosen for their bold use of contrast and color and variety of subject matter as the presentation of those images will need to be accessible at-a-glance by a moving audience. The variety of subject matter is in an attempt to connect with a broad range of consumers. The four Website Awardees were chosen for their masterful use of color to shape space in a way that benefits from a longer gaze.

Billboard Awardees:

“Working Through Lunch (Again)” Watercolor by Leslie Baldwin

Judge's Statement: The commonness of your subject matter makes this piece immediately connect with a broad audience. The pops of contrast you achieved concretely define the objects.

Artist's Artwork Description: An accidental photo of a glass restaurant tabletop cluttered with manilla folders, drinking glasses, and personal paraphernalia became the inspiration for what was initially a vertical painting. Cropping the image to a square shape included the essential items that emphasized the harried feel of working through lunch.

“Primary Color” Watercolor by Sharon Boyle

Judge's Statement: Your modeling of form through value is masterful. This image is immediately relatable and your treatment of the background keeps the viewer focused on the portrait.

Artist Artwork Description: Transparent Watercolor on Paper, "Primary Colors" shares the experience we all have when we face something difficult in our lives.

“Silent Vigil” Watercolor by Nishita Jain

Judge's Statement: Your use of limited palette and value patterning show your mastery of composition. The balance of small and large shapes along the strata of your format are very successful.

Artist Artwork Description: In this watercolor painting, I aimed to capture the serene essence of a harbor, where boats rest quietly along the docks. Using soft tones of blue and subtle washes, I wanted to evoke a sense of calm and reflection. The interplay between water, sky and the boats was essential in emphasizing the stillness and muted beauty of the scene. With each brushstroke, I sought to bring out the subtle details of the boats, rigging, and their reflections, all while maintaining a gentle, impressionistic feel that invites viewers into this tranquil moment.

“Colossal Citrus”Watercolor by Frank Spino

Judge's Statement: The boldness of your color and balance of suggestion and detail are the success of this piece. Your use of value is fantastic. 

Artist's Artwork Description: I love the intense color of citrus. For many years, I called the Sunshine State my home and grew abundant citrus right in my yard. Citrus still brings sunshine to my life but now it is through my paintings.

Artist's Statement

I am very pleased to have my painting chosen for the Pigments to Pixels exhibit on. And it seems appropriate to have my work on a billboard since I was a billboard painter for many years.

God has given us a totally magnificent and endlessly fascinating world. Inspiration and beauty greet us at every turn.

Am I able to capture one fleeting moment of this beauty and suspend it forever inside a picture frame? This is my quest.

I am called to paint by color and form. I have a deep need to create dimension in my work - to model 3D objects on 2D surfaces. This follows my first love – drawing, though now I am able to model in color what once I could only capture in shades of grey.

With my love of bright color, I needed look no further than my Florida backyard where we grew oranges, calamondins and lemons. These and other colorful citrus often find their way into my work. I am fascinated by the form and color of citrus.

My art is an attempt to capture with brush and pigment what excites my soul.

Website Awardees:

“A Fan of Bermuda” Watercolor by Jim Kuhlman:

Judge's Statement: I was immediately drawn to your image based on the chunking of value and the balance of bold shape and fine detail.

Artist's Artwork Description: Some of my watercolors have deep titles that need to be explained…This one is called “A Fan of Bermuda”…

(sound of mic dropping)

Artist's Statement

Rodin once said, “The Artist is the confidant of Nature.”

Over the 26 years that I have painted Bermuda, I have been privy to the whispering trust of The Island and its beauty. To date, I have painted over 165 watercolors of its secrets, many of which find home in residences there as well as in the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

It is always my goal to be attuned to the inherent design in Nature, whether it be in composition, contrast, rhythm or any of the other visual cues that call out to the aware eye and reward it with its unfettered and unforced presence.

Although the paintings are so representational as to enable a viewer to locate perhaps the exact spot of inspiration, the strength of the unforced abstract design principles is what seduces the viewer unknowingly, and arrests him or her, spellbound by what might have simply been unintentionally walked by…on the way to “something.”

“A Fan of Bermuda” is a tribute to the graceful rhythm of a simple palm frond and its elegant framing of Morning Bay in Cambridge Beaches behind it. The title is obviously a double entendre as the sunlight splays each leaf like a deck of cards dealt into its warmth and teases it to surrender to gravity.

I visit Bermuda often, by plane and by brush.

“The Eye of the Iris” Watercolor by Carol Mann

Judge's Statement: The mastery of your complementary color relationship drew me to your piece. The detail in the undulating petals requires time to appreciate.

Artist's Artwork Description: My love of irises inspired me to paint this beautiful flowing flower. Using Daniel Smith watercolors and 300 pound cold press paper I was able to layer my colors to obtain the rich purples and corals that I wanted to achieve. This painting is 22 x 30 inches.

Artist's Statement 

Carol Mann is a North Carolina watercolor artist whose paintings are widely recognized for their realism, attention to detail, and layered approach to color. Her passion for watercolor blossomed from a gratifying hobby to a successful business, which has enriched and inspired her local community and attracted customers near and far.

Carol’s paintings can be found in homes and commercial establishments across the United States. Her art has been featured in galleries across North Carolina and Massachusetts, and her clientele includes restaurants, bed and breakfast establishments, real estate offices, medical and veterinary offices, insurance companies, and universities. She is in high demand for her paintings of architecture, florals, and pets, and has completed hundreds of commissions in the fifteen years she has been painting.

Wanting to share the joy of painting with others, Carol has taught beginner and advanced watercolor classes and workshops to nearly a hundred students, many of whom credit her pedagogical skill and artistic guidance when they won awards of their own. She teaches aspiring artists of all ages and has served as a juror for art shows in the Beaufort County public schools. Carol also authored several online tutorials for the art supply magazine Blick. She has donated dozens of paintings to support local non-profit organizations, including several churches, the women’s shelter of Beaufort County, and the local chapter of the SPCA.

Carol is a signature member of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina and the Baltimore Watercolor Society.

“Woman with a Wrapped Hat” Varnished Watercolor by April Rimpo

Judge's Statement: The balance you created between the background architecture and the angular pose of the figure is so intriguing. The detail of the patterns in the figure/garments kept me engaged in your composition.

Artist's Artwork Description: This painting features a woman from Santiago, Guatemala. She was rewrapping her hat, made of a long embroidered belt about 15 feet in length, a traditional hat in Santiago village, on Lake Atitlan. I love sharing the story of the handmade fabrics and traditions of people around the world.

Artist's Statement

My goal in my paintings is to tell stories of life. I use color and light to create an enticing piece while infusing it with emotion. Preferred media are watercolor and fluid acrylic. I love when others recall stories of their own when they view my work, so portions are left abstracted to help others fill in the details. I feel a piece is successful when I achieve the mood I want, but real success comes when others tell me the story they see in the painting. What a tremendous sense of satisfaction in successfully evoking a memory or an emotion in another. What more could I ask for as an artist?

Rimpo’s paintings have been included in over 80 national exhibitions. She curated three exhibitions in which poets and musicians were invited to create new works inspired by her paintings, with a fourth such exhibition scheduled for May 2025. She has juried art selection and awards for 4 venues and co-juror for another. April achieved Signature Artist status in 8 watercolor societies, the International Society of Acrylic Painters, and the International Society of Experimental Artist. Her work is published in one Best of Watercolor, three Best of Acrylic books, and one Special Edition The Best in Watercolor magazine presented by Artists Magazine. She teaches locally and via Zoom and offers short talks for local art organizations on various aspects of the business of art. - April M. Rimpo

“La Barrandera /The Sweeper”, Acrylic on Canvas by Rosa Ines Vera

Judge's Statement: The high design of this piece and balance of the dark ground and the structure of the figures keeps my eye moving through your piece. The nuanced color creates a great movement in the piece.

Artist's Artwork Description: I was inspired by a photo of a hospitality worker demonstrating near the U.S. Capitol. She was carrying a broom. I wanted to show her in motion while others moved around her.

Artist's Statement

Painting for me is an expression of being bi-cultural and bilingual, and an immigrant to the United States; as well as adjusting to different environments as a child. But it is also an expression of the present as I now live between Peru and the United States. I combine figurative and abstract elements, often in the same painting.

My subjects are mostly figures and landscapes. My figures are often women; I paint them and then add layers – I start creating forms and they evolve as the colors and the pieces are juxtaposed against one another. I am currently working on pieces with Latin American women as a theme, being aware of the Peruvian macho society where most women, especially the poor, have little recourse but much resilience. My past work has focused on landscapes semi-abstractly depicting the beauty of nature. Our relationship to nature is an ancient one and something which we have neglected.