Blog – Citrus Watercolor Society

Trip to Orlando

Some of our members took a trip to visit the Orlando Museum of Art recently. They went to the Museum to view the FWS To Catch a Dream Exhibition (several of our members had works in the exhibit) and then to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory before returning to the Art Center of Citrus County.

The folks in the picture are (LtoR) Signian McGeary, Aileen Croly, Jackie Nash, Ginger Bryers, Vicki’s friend Jan, Vicki Pritchard, Elaine McLaughlin, Vicki’s sister Lynn Knight, and Signian’s friend Catherine Gouvin

Press Release

CWS Jan 2026 article for Citrus Chronicle

Artist Lionel Sanchez Welcomes the New Year with Citrus Watercolor Society

Happy New Year! CWS is kicking off the New Year with the unique watercolor and ink style of Lionel Sanchez in his two-day workshop on January 10^th and 11^th at the Art Center of Citrus County. His workshop, entitled “Representational Paintings of Urban and Rural Subjects” will result in your painting showing color, shadows and depth that will add much to your personal repertoire.

A demonstration by Lionel will be included at our monthly business meeting on Friday, Jan 9^th in the Education Building at the Art Center, 2644 N. Annapolis, Hernando FL. Join us at 12:30 for “Meet and Greet” with light refreshments followed by a short business meeting and the demo. Painting of the Month is also on the agenda. Bring in your latest painting to display with awards determined by “Viewer’s Choice” vote.

Registration for Lionel’s workshop is available at our website https://citruswatercolorsociety.org or by contacting Vicki Pritchard at vickipritchard@gmail.com. CWS members’ fee is $125, non-members $155. Checks are payable to CWS and a supply list will be sent to you upon receipt of your registration.

Vicki Pritchard also coordinates our weekly Plein Air Outings. In January we will be painting at Lake McKethen near Brooksville – contact Vicki at her email above for more information.

There is an opportunity for CWS members to join in with the Art Center of Citrus County’s Nature’s Coast Exhibit on January 14^th. This is a juried show with awards and exhibited paintings will hang in the Art Center for a month. Think of all the exposure for your work! For additional information, please see https://artcenterofcitruscounty.org/nature-coast-exhibit-prospectus .

Looking ahead CWS has artists Lynn Ferris (February) and Polly Boston (March) scheduled as well as our annual Paint Around that includes five local artists in a fast moving challenge to complete a joint painting in less than an hour. Come join us for fun and learning with one of the friendliest art groups in Central Florida!

Until next time, wishing you all the best in 2026. Dori Sullivan

Press Release

11/30/2025 Dori Sullivan

Happy Holidays from all your friends at Citrus Watercolor Society. In December we’re celebrating the Season with a pot luck luncheon at the Art Center of Citrus County on Friday, Dec. 12 with a demo by one of our favorites – Kim Shields. It will be a fun filled event, door prizes, drawings for baskets of art related “goodies” and time to share memories of the past years’ workshops and more.

On the following day (Sat 12/13) Kim will do a one-day workshop, “The Use of Contrast to Improve Your Landscape Painting”. Currently, the workshop is filled, but you may contact Ginger Bryers at gingerbryers@gmail.com to be put on a waiting list if you are interested. The fee is $95 for CWS members and $125 for non-members.

Congratulations to the winners of our November Painting of the Month competition. Yolanda Baretto won first place with her stunning painting of Christmas Tree Ornaments that included multiple watercolor techniques. Jeanniene Cole and Curt Bond tied for second place. Jeanniene submitted a watercolor portrait of a dog and Curt showed a watercolor painting of a FL Ibis. All paintings were judged by Viewer’s Choice for the awards.

Looking ahead to an “Art-full” 2026 we start in January with a two day workshop with Lionel Sanchez entitled “Representational Paintings of Urban and Rural Subjects”. Lionel is an award winning artist/teacher in central Florida and is a fun workshop leader whose talents lead to exciting, watercolor paintings for all his students. Details are available on the CWS website: www:citruswatercolorsociety.org.

Annual dues for membership at CWS are only $45 a year and the benefits are immeasurable. There are generous discounts for workshops, weekly plein air outings, free demos and opportunities to meet both beginner and long time artists to share ideas and techniques. We meet on the second Friday of the month at the Art Center of Citrus County at 2644 N. Annapolis Ave. in Hernando. All are welcome.

November: a Meeting, Demo and a workshop

Our November meeting was well attended with over 40 members and guests on hand to hear about our exciting upcoming events and workshops, and to see Elaine McLaughlin demo her Batik Process. Then on Saturday a lucky few got to attend Elaines workshop and try their hand at this exciting and different art technique. With watercolors, hot wax and irons, blow dryers and copper tools the creative process flowed.

Press Release

Dori Sullivan
10/20/2025

CWS presents Elaine McLaughlin, community volunteer and artist, introducing the “how-to” Batik workshop on Saturday, November 15 from 9 am to 4:00pm in the Educational Building of the Art Center of Citrus County. The fee for CWS members is $65 and non-members $100. All levels of watercolor artists are welcome.

Elaine, a native of Nova Scotia Canada, and her husband Michael Burrock relocated to Citrus Hills about 4 years ago. She has been active in both business and volunteerism in the local area and is currently on the board of PACE Center for Girls. Her artistic talents provide inspiration and fun while she spends time with family, travel and gardening.

She studied using watercolor and batik on rice paper under artist Kathie George. The process uses hot wax as a resist while adding layer after layer of color to the sketch. During our Friday Nov. 14 Business Meeting (1:00pm at the Art Center) Elaine will demonstrate this technique using Tjaps – intricate copper stamping tools native to Indonesia, traditionally used in the creation of Batik fabrics. Her work results in unique art pieces as well as handmade greeting cards.

You may register for this workshop on our website www:citruswatercolorsociety.org or contact Signian McGeary at Signian@icloud.com. Sign up today – you don’t want to miss this workshop! A supply list will be available upon registration.

Looking ahead, CWS will celebrate the Holidays with a Pot-Luck luncheon at the Art Center located at 2644 N. Annapolis Ave., Hernando FL. on Friday Dec. 12 at 12:30. Members are asked to bring a dish to share and $5 to cover service. Please RSVP to Dori Sullivan (sullivandori128@gmail.com).

At the Holiday Luncheon Kim Shields will be our guest artist providing a demonstration prior to his one day workshop on Saturday Dec 13. Kim is always a welcomed artist who is also a signature member of Florida Watercolor Society and has many awards to his name. His one day workshop is “The Use of Contrast to Improve Your Landscape Painting”. More information and registration forms are on our website.

We want to wish our readers a very Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be grateful for including your ongoing support of CWS and our events.

Rainbowing our way into beautiful colors

At the October CWS general meeting, members and guests voted for their favorite choice from current artwork by our Members. Susan Ford was awarded 2nd place and C.J. Westrick won first place. Each were presented an award certificate by Marjorie Bannish, POM Coordinator.

C. J. ‘s painting is a watercolor rendition of country mailboxes from her photograph, completed in studio. The image is from the Micanopy area.

Susan’s watercolor is from one of CWS’s plein air weekly outings. This image is from the Dunnellon City Beach. In November, the CWS outings will be in the historic area of Floral City. For more information contact Vicki Pritchard at vickipritchard@gmail.com.

The October meeting attendance was sizable due to all the returning snowbirds. Welcome back all. It was so good to catch up with everybody. The socializing had to stop so we could enjoy a demo by Linda Woken. This was a great opportunity for our members and guests to learn some of the best tips on managing our pallets and mingling colors. Linda shared her technique of “rainbowing” colors that keeps the painting fresh and alive and avoids making “mud”. Some lucky ones also attend her one-day workshop the following day.

Founders Day Awards

CWS had their annual “Show and Tell” that included the CWS Founder’s Day awards on September 19th. Over 20 paintings by our member artists were displayed and viewer’s choice determined the winners. They are; third place Yolanda Barreto for her flying shore birds, second place Lionel Sanchez for his watercolor painting of an old mansion and first place went to Judi Miller for her watercolor representation of a bamboo forest. Congratulations all! There were really terrific paintings in the show and we look forward to even more next year.

Press Release

Dori Sullivan
09/2025

Citrus Watercolor Society presents a colorful workshop with Linda Wokoun – Award winning Florida Artist.

We’re so excited to welcome back Linda Wokoun on Friday October 9^th for a demonstration followed by a two-day workshop entitled “Finding and Losing Detail” Sat. and Sunday at the Art Center of Citrus County, 2644 N. Annapolis Ave., Hernando FL. Member’s fee is $225, non-CWS members, $255. The demo is at 12:30 PM following a brief business meeting. Guests are welcome, members are free, a $5 donation is asked of guests. Hurry and sign up – the weeks are flying by!

Artist’s Statement “I’m Linda Wokoun, a watercolor artist and instructor originally from Chicago and transplanted to Southwest Florida ten years ago! I dreamed about life as an artist since childhood but have only recently had the luxury of painting full time.

I enjoy leveraging the natural characteristics of water to bring energy and movement to my paintings. I like to incorporate both abstract and representational elements in my work and feel that water media is particularly well suited to my approach. My process is wet into wet, blending colors and creating textures directly on the painting surface.

I am a signature member of the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society and currently serve as its president. I’m also a member and exhibitor with the Florida Watercolor Society and the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. I have become a regular art workshop instructor throughout the Florida area as well as conducting my own online workshops.”

In this workshop we will focus on a variety of wet-into-wet and negative painting techniques. If you are interested in loosening up your painting style, this class is for you. Subjects include a stylized tomato plant and a cityscape in Glasgow. All watercolor skill levels are welcome!

Looking ahead, in November a demo by Elaine McLaughlin, followed by a one day workshop “Batik: Using Indonesian Tjaps to create design with Watercolor and Wax”. Keep up with our workshops at www:citruswatercolorsociety.org.

Just a few weeks ago, CWS had their annual “Show and Tell” that included the CWS Founder’s Day awards. Over 20 paintings by our member artists were displayed and viewer’s choice determined the winners. They are; third place Yolanda Barreto for her flying shore birds, second place Lionel Sanchez for his watercolor painting of an old mansion and first place went to Judi Miller for her watercolor representation of a bamboo forest. Congratulations all! There were really terrific paintings in the show and we look forward to even more next year.

Citrus Watercolor Society welcomes watercolor painters from Citrus, Marion and Hernando Counties. We meet monthly, on the second Friday of the month at 12:30 PM for “meet and mingle”, a brief business meeting followed by our invited artist who presents a demo of what they’ll be showing in the following workshop. Annual membership dues are $45 and include the Friday demo. The fees for workshops vary but CWS members always get a generous discount. If you’d like to volunteer to assist with our workshops, the discount is 50% off the workshop you host. Talk to any CWS board member for duty details. We hope to see you Friday, October 9th at the Art Center of Citrus County at 12:30 PM.

Congratulations

Polly Boston and Kim Shields had their paintings selected to be part of the 2025 54th annual Florida Watercolor Society Convention. Both their paintings will be on exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art until late January 2026. Don’t miss it!

Press Release

September 2025

CWS presents our annual free “Show and Tell” program with the Founder’s Day Awards in September.

Come and join us in the Art Center Education Building, 2644 N. Annapolis in Hernando for this exciting display of watercolor paintings by the artist/members of Citrus Watercolor Society on Friday, September 19^th beginning with “meet & greet” and light refreshments at 12:30 PM. There will be a short business meeting at 1:00 with previews of upcoming workshops and special events. Don’t miss it!!

Citrus Watercolor Society meetings, demonstrations and workshops are usually held the second weekend of the month, except this year. Please note the change of date for September, 2025.

We’ve spent the past year enjoying workshops and opportunities to make our watercolor paintings better than ever. Techniques learned from our guest artists who provided demonstrations and “how to” during their workshops are incorporated in our paintings. Our own plein air days provide on site painting activities in Crystal River, Inverness and now Dunnellon. We want to share our visions with you, our viewers. Weekly challenges and inspirations during our “casual painting” days portray our skills painting birds, fruit, flowers and more. We’ve had a wonderful year and want to share the results of our labors with you. They’re all “labors of love”!

Yes! It’s time for current members and friends to bring their matted or framed artwork to the Art Center at noon, display them, enjoy viewing each other’s work and most importantly, vote for your favorite. There will be monetary awards for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place Founder’s Award by viewer’s choice votes. Talk about “inspirations” … this is it! We look forward to seeing you there.

Looking ahead to October, Linda Wokoun will be coming for a weekend workshop entitled “Finding and Losing Details”. Linda’s wet on wet florals and cityscapes are amazing and she’s an important Florida artist who always shows us exciting techniques during her workshops that may become part of our personal style. Linda’s demo is on Friday Oct. 10^th at 1:00 but come early to enjoy meeting our members and the artist. The two day workshop is Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11^th and 12^th. CWS member’s fee is $225 and non-members is $255. Details and registration forms are available on our website www.citruswatercolorsociety.org.

We’re looking forward to seeing you on September 19^th at the Art Center of Citrus County – a facility for the fine arts, designed by artists. See you soon!