GSWS is Going Electronic

By Margaret Simpson
Garden State Watercolor Society, founded in 1969 by Dagmar Tribble, has taken a leap into the future this year by accepting submissions into the 45th Annual Juried Show at Capital Health Medical Center, Hopewell…electronically. So many members have digital cameras or smartphones that electronic entry will soon be commonplace.
Many art societies use the hands-on approach by accepting and judging submitted paintings the old fashioned way. The artists must stand in a long line on drop-off day, wait for the juror to review their paintings and for a call back or an online posting to find out whether their submission number (i.e.their work) was accepted. Even well-known artists can be rejected, based on the criteria the juror uses that day for "what they are looking for." Certainly excellent work, but also unusual approaches to a painting, work that tells a story, something that provokes the viewer to think or evaluate the subject differently or something that "catches his eye" may be the thinking behind the jury selection for any given show.
The upcoming Annual Exhibit will be juried by Kass Marin Freeman, an internationally known watercolorist. GSWS artists may utilize a link on their website, called Entry Thingy for the first time, to enter their digital images as a 4×6" 300dpi JPG file. The link is available now.
For those artists interested, two workshops are being offered at D&R Greenway Land Trust in Princeton, on August 9th from 11:30 to 2:00pm. This is an opportunity to also see the Seasonal Splendors show at D&R Greenway’s three galleries, where over 90 paintings by Signature Artists have been on exhibit. Artists will be taught at the workshop how to photograph their work and to use the online application to submit their painting photo in the best possible way. Submission via the Entry Thingy application is a chance to be accepted into the October-January show at the Roma Bank Art and Healing Gallery at Capital Health Medical Center—Hopewell.
Deadline for online entries is Sunday, September 14, and the show is available to artists over 18 in NJ, NY, PA and DE, and members of GSWS. Nonmembers pay a higher fee. A new requirement for this medical center gallery is that all art be framed in plexiglass. For further information, visit www.gswcs.com or contact Tessie Fields, exhibit co-chair.