Author: Judith Callison

Press Release

August 2025

August 2025 Citrus Chronicle article

Citrus Watercolor Society presents “Love Your Watercolor”, painting with Darla Goldberg. By popular request, the “Eyes Have it” is also included in this 2 day workshop. 

Citrus Watercolor Society is hosting a 2 day workshop August 9th and 10th at the Art Center of Citrus County, in the Educational Building, 2644 N. Annapolis Ave., in Hernando. Registration is still open on our website at www.citruswatercolorsociety.org . Member’s fee is $125 and non-members are $155 with checks payable to CWS. Want a sneak preview? Please join us Friday, August 8 at 12:30 PM in the Art Center for the monthly CWS business meeting and demo by Darla. Guests are always welcome. A $5 donation is requested from non-members. Light refreshments are served. Come and see!

Darla is a recognized Florida artist who creates amazing animal and bird paintings known for their realistic looking eyes. Her history in the medical profession as an oculist transfers to the most fascinating eyes in her artwork. She is an entertaining instructor who has a wide background of workshops, demonstrations and shows of her own extraordinary paintings. Darla set her goal to become an artist who shares her talent thru teaching. She is a member of the Florida Watercolor Society as well as Citrus Watercolor Society. Join us for two days of creativity, camaraderie, and watercolor wonder!

CWS is actively involved with the Florida Watercolor Society and with that in mind we have changed our September monthly meeting (that includes “Show and Tell” and our Founder’s Award) from Sept. 12 to Friday, September 19th. CWS members Pauline Boston, Lionel Sanchez and Kim Shields are conducting demonstrations at the 2025 Annual Florida Watercolor Society convention in Orlando Florida. The convention Sept. 10 thru 12 is at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel, downtown Orlando. The 100 selected juried paintings will be on display thru January at the Orlando Art Museum. 

At the Sept. 19th meeting, CWS artists are invited to bring their recent watercolor painting. Members and guests vote for their favorite painting and besides a “Painting of the Month” award, there will also be cash awards for the first, second and third place winners of the Founder’s Awards. 

Looking ahead, our monthly meeting schedule will resume in October on the second Friday of the month with a General Business Meeting and demo by October’s guest artist, Linda Wokoun. Linda’s two day workshop following the demo is entitled “Finding and Losing Detail”. Details are on our website at www.citruswatercolorsociety.org. Until next time – to quote Andrew Wyeth “I dream a lot. I do more painting when I’m not painting. It’s in the subconscious.”

Curt Bond Workshop

Our own Curt Bond lead another successful and well-attended workshop. He provided everything the attendees needed to create a beautiful piece of art. The pictures say it all. Don’t they look happy?

“The Art of Food” Luncheon

The Spring luncheon at the Art Center truly was a gourmet feast. The self-serve buffet included baked ham and fried chicken and a mouthwatering array of side dishes and desserts provided by our members. The artfully displayed food table provided more than enough sustenance to the 50 members who attended.

Congratulations to Jeanne Conrad who was presented the Lifetime Membership Award by Majorie Bannish. Jeanne was recognized for her invaluable contributions to the organization including serving a past president and her many, many volunteer hours for the Homosassa Art Show and sales.

The highlight of the afternoon was Barbara Kerr presiding over the installation of the elected 2024-2026 Officers of the Board. Congratulations to all:
President……………………………………..………..………….Deborah Newman
1st V.P. Programs………………………………….. ………..Signian McGeary
2nd V.P. Membership………………………………………Jan Kuukari
Treasurer………………………………………………………….Aileen Croly
Recording Secretary…………………………………………Chris McKinney
Corresponding Secretary………………………………….Gingi Martin
Director/Facilities Coordinator………………………….Theo Van Eldik
Director Delegate/Past President…………………….Dori Sullivan
Director Ambassador for Members………..…..……Ginger Bryers

As if this was not enough the luncheon was followed by a Demonstration of Mixed Media art techniques by our talented member Loretta Bell. She sent us off with an abundance of ideas for stamping, collaging and embellishing our artworks. Truly more food for our creatives souls.

Annual Paint Around Exceeded Expectations

The Citrus Watercolor Society recently held its much-anticipated Paint-Around Event at the April 11 meeting, bringing together creativity, community, and incredible talent for an afternoon filled with inspiration and artistry.

This year’s event featured five exceptional watercolor artists—Anne Abgott, Theo Van Eldik, Darla Goldberg, Polly Boston, and Curt Bond—each bringing their unique style and flair to the canvas. During the interactive “paint-around,” artists rotated between pieces, adding their personal touch and allowing the artwork to evolve collaboratively. The result? A series of stunning, one-of-a-kind watercolor paintings that truly showcased the power of artistic synergy.

At the close of the event, these beautiful works were raffled off to lucky attendees, making for an exciting and memorable finale. Guests were thrilled to take home a piece of the magic, all while supporting local art and artists. -Loretta Lynn Bell

Anne Abgott Delivers

On April 12th & 13th Anne Abgott held a two-day workshop at the Art Center that was varyingly called informative and intense. No-one, however, said it wasn’t well worth the time and money. Anne is an award winning artist and all agreed at this workshop she delivered.

May Luncheon Update

The Art of Food 

A CWS Potluck Lunch
Friday May 9th  1:00 PM
at the Art Center

This year, in lieu of an Installation Luncheon at the Country Club we’re hosting a “Pot Luck Lunch” at the Art Center. We will provide fried chicken and ham and we’re asking you to bring a “pot luck” dish to share.
When you make your reservations we’re also asking $5 to cover the place settings.
Please RSVP to C.J. Westrick (cj@cjwestrick.com) or Dori Sullivan (billdori@embarqmail.com) .

The Installation of CWS Board for 2025 and 2026 will be conducted by Barbara Kerr.

The new Board of Directors was elected and will be installed at the lunch. The Board Members for 2025-2026 term are:
 President: Deborah Newman                                             
1st Vice President: Signian McGeary                         
2nd Vice President: Jan Kuukari                                 
Treasurer: Aileen Croly                                                 
Recording Secretary: Chris McKinney                       
Corresponding Secretary: Gingi Martin                    
Facilities Manager: Theo Van Eldik                            
Ambassador: Ginger Bryers                                         
Immediate Past President: Dori Sullivan

Volunteer positions with the club are always available. The Historian position is open as well as helping out with the refreshments.  And we’re always looking for Sponsors for the workshops.  To volunteer, talk to anyone on the board.           

A demo by Loretta Bell will follow the luncheon. “Layers of Creativity: A Mixed Media Adventure

Please make your reservations by May 1st.

“Artist of the Month” winners for March, 2025

Congratulations to the winners of our Artist of the Month in March. Susanjane Donohoe came in first with her painting of the lonely boy fetching water on a street in India and Aileen Croly came in second with her adorable painting of her dog “Clark”. This Viewer’s Choice competition is held monthly during our business meeting.

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Congrats to the winners at the Art in the Park show at the Homosassa Wildlife Park. We had a good turnout of artists and Im sure it was a difficult choice to select the favorites.

February 14 Meeting and Demo

Thank you to Teresa Kirk for being so talented and entertaining. Demonstrating how she creates her dynamic and colorful works of art was a treat to watch. There are sure to be many experiments working with Aquabord and Gessobord (especially with those free samples.) Those with foresight also signed up for her two day workshop. Feedback ranged from insightful to challenging. All said it was fun.

Thank you, Marjorie Bannish, for coordinating our “Painting of the Month” contest. Our votes ended up in two ties. Congratulations to C. J. Westrick and Elaine McLaughlin for their second place wins and to Susan Ford-Ladeva and Theo Van Eldik for first place wins. Go to the Painting of the Month page to see their winning works.