Art that flows: Fine exhibit features selections from a group of professional watercolorists

While oil painters typically paint what interests them, watercolorists paint what they love.

With about 30 Winter Texans and local artists participating, the Hidalgo Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition is on display at the Upper Valley ARt League, featuring a collection of traditional watercolors sharing the artists’ relationships with their subjects. Landscape paintings abound with scenes from various locales; there are also some excellent wildlife renderings of avian life, and a few portraits and figure studies, but the landscape genre unveils the artists’ souls in this show.

Love of the differing environments reveal forested areas, open fields, and rhythms of trees, along with several works drawing inspiration from beaches, western canyons, and urban centers. Intrigued with winter moods upon the land, Doris Rodriguez has created some engaging works. “Little Lake” captures the sense of winter silence with the water medium effectively becoming the water image. It is winter waiting for spring. By contrast, her “Storm” depicts winter in action with a maliciously freezing wind overcoming a field of trees. She conveys these moods of nature sensitively — muted tones in the first work suggest dormancy; cool tones and varied brush techniques in the latter chill us to the bone.

Locally inspired scenic selections lean more toward intimate closeups rather than the often-distant views from the northern eye. Plant life prevailed in this group including “Forever” and “Yellow Hibiscus” by Freddie Harmon. These works express contrasting aspects about the subjects themselves rather than the forces upon them. “Forever” is a firm yet gentle romantic statement with the red rose as its symbolic subject and its submissive position upon a patterned white surface. “Yellow Hibiscus” is a sensual burst of flower power focusing on the center of the flower, a deep red surrounded by vivid golden yellow tones projecting its stamen for the interest of potential pollinators.

And if you thought watercolor was just a single style, this exhibit proves you wrong. There are tightly controlled works that hold colors within designated or abstract shapes, as in Della Thompson’s “Tropical Bird,” while others let color flow within a bird’s plumage for soft tonal gradations as in “Up, Up, and Away” by Bonnie Fogg. “By the Shore” by Sharon Nieters firmly captures the image of a white heron while the background and water reflect an abstracted flow of colors dancing with water.

Still others fall somewhere between the artistic desire for control and the aesthetic game of chance. Dennis Grover’s “Here’s to You” considers another possibility — opaque tones.

UVAL accepts all water-based mediums for their shows, but because the field of traditional watercolor only recognizes transparent coloration, the HWS disdains opaque gouaches and acrylics.

Grover, who curated this year’s exhibit, elaborated about that policy, “With the Society,” he explained, “you can’t do it, because they’ll only allow you 10% gouache. Yeah, so I I’m going with the other route myself. I’m still a traditional watercolorer;” he admitted, “and I love to do transparents, but if I see something that I can really capture with gouache — it appeals to me — I’m going to put it my painting, see if it goes somewhere.”

In his work, he uses opaque tones to strengthen shapes and get flat tonal areas. The transparent ice cubes in “Here’s to You” is a nod to the traditional option.

Nancy Moyer, Professor Emerita of Art, is an art critic for The Monitor. Email her at nmoyer@rgv.rr.com.

Hidalgo Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition

WHERE: UVAL, 921 E. 12th St., Mission

WHEN: Through Feb. 22

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday

CONTACT: (956) 591-0282, www.uppervalley artleague.org

COST: Free and open to the public

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