Tag: press release

From Music to Watercolor Magic; Meet Polly Boston!

Citrus Watercolor Society is delighted to announce that Pauline (Polly) Boston will present a demo and one day workshop at the Art Center in Citrus County on Friday March 13 and 14^th. All levels of watercolor artists are welcome. It will be fun and add new techniques to your repertoire. Friday arrive at 12:30 PM for light refreshments and our “Painting of the Month” competition. The demo is at 1:30PM following our meeting. The Saturday workshop hours are from 9:00AM to 4:00PM (also at the Art Center, 2644 N. Annapolis Ave., Hernando.)

At the CWS regularly scheduled business meeting, Polly will demonstrate a watercolor preview to her one-day workshop entitled: “Nature: Wild Sumac Against River Water”. The demo is free to members and begins after our business meeting. Guests are asked for a $5 donation. The workshop fee for CWS members is $95, the non-member fee is $125. It’s a wonderful opportunity for you to learn more about her techniques for “plein air” painting. Sign-up today with Elaine McLaughlin at mtmelaine@gmail.com or on the CWS website https://citruswatercolorsociety.org. A supply list will be sent to you when you register.

Polly Boston of Lecanto is on one hand a well-known pianist and vocalist. Switching hats, she becomes an award-winning watercolorist who is a member of Florida Watercolor Society as well as Citrus Watercolor Society and exhibits at local galleries and art shows in the area.

Looking ahead, the members of Citrus Watercolor Society are planning a Show and Sale in June. Look for details on our website and on Facebook. 

Citrus Watercolor Society was established in 1981 dedicated to fostering the sharing of skills and knowledge of watercolor artists. Annual dues are $45 and the benefits of membership are many. Workshops, demonstrations, social events, shows and sales all in friendly, comfortable settings.

Dori Sullivan 2/2026

January 2026

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the CWS monthly Business Meeting at 12:30 on Friday, Feb 13 that includes light refreshments, Painting of the Month awards and our very special guest artist Lynn Ferris, who will present a demo at 1:00 PM.

Back by popular demand, Lynn will present a demo on Friday, as a preview for her two-day workshop the following Sat and Sun Feb 14 & 15. Entitled “Capturing the Light”, the workshop helps us understand how light and shadows influence our paintings. No one knows how light reacts to watercolor paintings like Lynn Ferris. The demo and workshop will be in the Educational Building of the Art Center of Citrus County at 2644 N. Annapolis Ave., Hernando. The demo is free to CWS members (all welcome, a $5 donation is appreciated from guests) and the workshop fee is $150 for CWS members $180 for non-members. Contact Darla Goldberg at dardarfla@gmail.com to register or sign-up on our website at https://citruswatercolorsociety.org. 

Artist’s Statement: “Capturing the Light” brings your work to the next level. Light and shadow shouldn’t be afterthoughts in our paintings. In fact, good use of light and shadow is one of the best ways to take a painting from ordinary to extraordinary.

Lynn will show students how to use light and shadow to design stronger compositions and bring drama to a variety of subject matter. Students will gain new skills and confidence working with shadows, light sources, creating glow and more. Lynn provides handouts, reference materials, and lots of personal attention.

CWS Artist of the Month  In January Elaine McLaughlin won first place with her watercolor seascape painting. There was a tie for second place with Chris McKinney and Judi Tintera showing their watercolor work. The vote, by Viewer’s Choice, is made by members and guests at our monthly meetings.

If you are a watercolor artist – all levels from beginner to experienced – and would like to meet with other local artists to exchange techniques, enter juried shows, have the opportunity to simply share and enjoy a membership in “the friendliest little watercolor club anywhere” join CWS today. Annual dues are $45 and the benefits are endless. Membership information is available on our website

Looking Ahead In June, 2026 CWS will host its first Show and Sale at the Art Center in Citrus County. Details will be available as our plans proceed. We hope to see you in February and look forward to having you and your art as part of CWS.

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

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.

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.

Happy New Year and Happy Painting with Lionel Sanchez!!

Here’s wishing you a very Happy New Year from the artists and members of Citrus Watercolor Society. We’re starting off the year with a “bang” and hope you will join us Friday, Jan. 12^th at the First Christian Church at 2018 Colonade, Inverness for our monthly business meeting and demonstration by Lionel Sanchez. 

Lionel is one of our favorite landscape and marine watercolor artists who will conduct a one day workshop, Saturday January 13^th at the Whispering Pines Recreational Building from 9 AM until 4 PM. Lionel’s subject will be from a selection of landscape or marine scenes that he will use to guide us, step by step thru the process, until we have a completed painting. It’s fun and yes, even a relaxing day spent with a fun artist who has a wealth of information and techniques to share with you. Please join us!

The workshop fee for members is $95 and for non-members, $125 payable to CWS. To register for the workshop, please go to our website http://www:citruswatercolorsociety.org . There is a registration form on the site as well as membership information. Guests are always welcome to attend our monthly Business Meetings. The demo is free to our members and we ask a $5 donation from non-members. Come and see what we’re all about. 

Our regular Business Meetings are held monthly except for May, July and December in the Fellowship Hall at First Christian Church. Doors open at 11:15 and light refreshments will be served. Our library will be open and an amazing selection of books and DVDs are available for you to borrow. There are also plastic sleeves for sale that are so important for those finished pieces of art you want to display or sell.

Speaking of displaying your artwork – members are welcome to bring in one of your latest paintings for our “Painting of the Month” contest. Certificates will be awarded to the first and second place winners. The popular vote by our members and guests determines the winners. We need at least five paintings to hold the competition. 

Looking ahead, we’re planning another “Art in the Wildlife Park” show and sale in a few months. Look for the date and details on our website or our Facebook page. This two day weekend show and sale includes a juried competition with awards for Best in Show, First, Second and Third Place, two Honorable Mention awards and the President’s Choice award. Entry into the show is for members only and a percentage of our sales is donated to the Wildlife Park in Homosassa. 

Until next time, stay well, paint and dip your brush into even brighter colors.

Dori
“Creativity takes courage” Henri Matisse.