Just a little water, plenty of enjoyable – Osceola-Sentinel Tribune

What do you get once you combine coloured pigments with water and apply them to a canvas? You simply would possibly get a masterpiece.

Saturday, seven members of the Iowa Watercolor Society had been hosted by the Clarke Area Arts Council at Lakeside Hotel Casino for a stay portray occasion. The artists arrange stations to work on work, chatting with one another and company about their work and strategies.

“It’s a great opportunity to see really quality pieces and [process],” Clarke Area Arts Council President Kate Emanuel mentioned.

Meet the artists

Many of the artists shared they use watercolor portray as a option to calm down and discover peace.

“You get into it and the world goes away,” Jan Globuschutz, artist and former President of the Iowa Watercolor Society, mentioned.

Globuschutz began her artistry journey working in oils earlier than transferring over to watercolor. Today, she paints plenty of flowers, working her means via them one petal at a time.

Others look to nature for inspiration, too, portray what they see on the planet round them.

“I love to be outdoors,” artist Mike Freel mentioned.

Freel leans extra in direction of landscapes, generally utilizing supply footage and making them his personal, different instances portray one thing he’d seen at a later time when inspiration strikes. Lisa Young additionally enjoys nature scenes, her favourite to color being birds – she’s painted a e book of Iowa birds – and animals.

“It’s whatever inspires me,” Young mentioned.

Susan Baer of Chariton works principally in landscapes, but in addition paints doodles, some folks and different practical works. Some of her work might begin out as {a photograph} for reference that she provides extra parts to, whereas others are a couple of picture melded collectively. Baer makes a black and white “composite” portray first to get definition earlier than utilizing it as a reference for a similar portray with colour. She usually works on two work directly, engaged on one whereas the opposite dries.

Conversely, Martha Rhoades works principally in portraits and youngsters, although she dabbles in a “bit of everything.” Rhoades mentioned she has at all times preferred to attract folks, and up to now has drawn all 5 of her grandchildren. She works in pastels as nicely, however enjoys the problem of watercolor. One of her favourite work is one among her brother holding a black drum fish he had reeled in.

Two relative newcomers to the world of watercolor are Tanya Lichtenwalter and Laura Ostrem.

Hailing from Madison County, Lichtenwalter operated Happy Acres Dog Training north of Winterset. In 2025, Lichtenwalter went on a portray journey in Mexico the place she accomplished a grand whole of two work, however has painted on daily basis since. Hailing earlier sentiments in regards to the peace that comes with portray, Lichtenwalter’s canines be a part of her on portray adventures within the former boarding constructing for her day by day dose of leisure.

“It’s a good [thing], when things in the world aren’t so great right now,” Lichtenwalter mentioned.

Dogs not removed from her coronary heart or ft, Lichtenwalter reworked one portray of gnomes into three of her canines – Princess Rebel Potomas, Garth and Ray Charles.

Making the journey over from Motezuma, Ostrem mentioned she began portray throughout COVID by watching on-line movies and has continued for the inventive outlet.

“I just do it for fun,” Ostrem mentioned.

A former lawyer, Ostrem mentioned she continues to be honing her abilities in watercolor as she doesn’t spend all of her time or day portray. Unlike a few of the different artists in attendance, she doesn’t shrink back from portraits, having fun with having the ability to seize folks’s expressions. She paints a bit little bit of every part, no matter speaks to her, from animals to vegetation to the summary.

Painting for almost seven a long time is Tom Hempel of Davenport. A development engineer within the U.S. Army, Hempel spent one 12 months in Vietnam serving to to construct an airplane hangar. Back within the states he slowly eased his means again into portray and found by likelihood the watercolor works of the late John Pike in a library e book about watercolor, an impressed discover.

“He paints just like I do,” Hempel mentioned, calling Pike the perfect watercolor artist on the planet.

One factor that some would possibly discover uncommon about Hempel’s work is that he doesn’t use black, discovering that it dries chalky. Instead, he makes use of purples, blues and reds to make his work pop. He didn’t at all times paint like this, however mentioned with age got here the knowledge. He additionally tends to color the skies of any portray final, as a result of by the point you end a portray, you recognize what you need the sky to be.

Traveling present

The 2025-26 IWS Traveling Show is presently on show at Lakeside Hotel Casino within the occasions heart entrance, and shall be there via March.

“We’re so happy to have this statewide display of artists in watercolor,” Emanuel mentioned. “We look forward to when we can get on their list… it’s a rare opportunity to have this quality of work.”

The present options 30 chosen art work by totally different artists, together with 5 who had been at Saturday’s occasion – each Ostrem and Hempel obtained honorable mentions for a chunk of labor whereas Baer, Rhoades and Globuschutz had work chosen for the present.

After March, the present shall be on the Corning Center for the Fine Arts in April and May, then in Creston on the Creston Arts Depot Gallery for June and July.