My Painting in Shenzhen Biennial

It is an honor to get to know that my painting has been accepted by international jury for the forthcoming Shenzhen International Biennial. Out of received 2,825 entries from 54 countries and regions they selected 130 Chinese entries and 130 entries from other countries. I also thank the jurors for their outstanding work. They are David Taylor (Australia), CHEN Jian (China), LIU Shouxiang (China), LU Hong (China), John T.Salminen (USA), Thomas Plunkett (U.K.), Andy Wood (U.K.).

Konstantin Sterkhov. Nanjing Railway station. 56x76 cm, 2013. 

The painting was sent under the name "Indigo"

From Fabio Cembranelli

Fabio Cembranelli with my book.

http://www.fcembranelli.blogspot.com
http://www.fcembranelli.com.br/

From Robert Wade

Robert Wade with my book

John Yardley Got My Book

Mr. John Yardley with the book THE MASTERS OF WATERCOLOR

Enjoy his ART - he is one of my favorite artists.

2 WEEKS LEFT TILL THE END OF WORKS SUBMISSION

2 WEEKS LEFT TILL THE END OF WORKS SUBMISSION
Saint-Petersburg Society of Watercolor Artists announce the ART-BRIDGE-WATERCOLOR-2013 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

We invite watercolor artists from Russia and abroad to participate in the competition.
We only accept WATERCOLORS.

Conditions of participation
1. JPGs of the participants’ watercolors are to be sent to Natalia Ozerova at akvarelspb@mail.ru, the Society’s e-mail address, marked ‘Competition, for Natalia Ozerova’.
2. Applications are accepted till September 12, 2013.
3. The entries will be judged by an expert international jury.
4. The competition will run in three judging-elimination stages.
Stage 1. The Society’s experts will select about 100 watercolors to take part in the competition.
Stage 2. The jury selection. The 100 projects will be whittled down to 30 for final judging.
Stage 3. The international jury will identify the laureates and awards in categories by means of exchanging e-mail messages.
5. The participants of the competition will receive certificates, and the laureates and category winners will receive laureate diplomas.
6. The results of the competition are to be announced at the opening of the Art-Bridge-Watercolor-2013 international Biennial
7. We accept the laureates’ watercolors to Art-Bridge-Watercolor-2013 international Biennial without a fee; catalogue participation for the winners is FREE OF CHARGE.

Contact information:
E-mail akvarelspb@mail.ru Natalia Ozerova, project director of Saint-Petersburg Society of Watercolor Artists, and Mikhail Zenkin, The Society’s project manager.

COMPETITION AND BIENNALE (EXHIBITION) are DIFFERENT EVENTS.

The Water-colour Society of Saint-Petersburg holds VII International Biennale Art-Bridge-Watercolour in the Exhibition center of V.V. Mayakovsky Central City Public Library (20, Nevsky pr., St.-Petersburg) and in Molbert art gallery (20, Moyka Embankment, St.-Petersburg) from October 28 to November 26, 2013.

During the exhibition we will be holding master classes, press-conferences with representatives of mass media, and round-table discussions. 

Contact information:

Natalia Ozerova,

project director

e-mail: akvarelspb at mail.ru

The First Receivers of The Book

I got some photos of the artists included in my book "The Masters of Watercolor" who received their copy of the book.

 Ong Kim Seng (Singapour) and Liu Yi (China) at the International Watercolor Festival in Seferihisar, Turkey

 Zhou Tianya (China) 

Marja Koskiniemi (Finland)

The book is available at http://www.ruslania.com/context-321/entity-1/details-144124/language-1.html

or you can also order directly from me by writing a comment, or directly to my e-mail. Payment via PayPal. 

Gerda Mentens

An Artist from Belgium Gerda Mentens is sharing her vision of herself in Art, lets go for it...

Actually my journey in art started already at the age of 8 when I had a teacher who painted. Her exhibition I visited with children's eyes played already a roll in my life back then. With my father, being a police officer and my mother as a mother at home , I never thought I was going to be an artist. In those days you first have to have a “real diploma”, so you could find a “real” job. In 1980 I graduated to be a professor in arts at the Sint-Maria Institute in Antwerp – Belgium.

Gerda Mentens

In my training I got different teachers, artists, real craftsmen for us as students, this training was important and only the beginning of a long and fantastic journey .
Subjects such as perception, colors ,figure and portrait, composition, science, art history ... we learned to deal with various techniques, surfaces, too many to talk about. So much information, so much to do and learn!!! In the two following 2 years, we learned to be teachers in art. Of course, professional competence was the most important.

Gerda Mentens

MY PATH
The search began, I continued teaching until I had good luck of ending up back on my training school as a teacher. For years I was a teacher in the department of art education. It was very exciting, through the different parts of my professional knowledge to learn how young people cope and discuss art.
The motto "If the student is ready, the teacher comes", I have always remain. So I went searching, and found masters on my path, if it was at the other side of the world, I followed my intuition and the people who crossed my path.

Gerda Mentens

I gained other insights: Followed painting courses, both in my country: Belgium and abroad.
Example: 20 years ago, a girlfriend asked me to me to participate in a workshop. It was an innovative artist who wanted to share his vision with us. This artist lived in the Netherlands but came from Serbia. I was young, mother of 2 young children, little money. They urged me to still save money and got involved.
So I did ... A new world opened for me as an artist. I learned to see with other eyes to the world. New insights came by.

Gerda Mentens

15 years ago I got an insanely proposal to go too an Academy in China to follow lessons of masters in art, in a short period of time we got there lessons. Again the same story, but I went. Again I got new insights into art, a vision of people who gave a new turn my life as an artist. …. I learned that the training to be in China was totally different.
I met people with a new or different vision, they looked with different eyes, different "training", they were open for renewal and discussion ... quite fascinating. Because artists evolve, change, get new insights, discover new roads. Art goes by, created today, tomorrow admired and discussed.

Gerda Mentens

DRAWING

 Sketch books  are the Bible for each artist, it is a source of information. Every holiday I use my sketchbook, I study what I like,   sitting and take  time for form and color. At home  this information is useful to get started. 

Gerda Mentens

There are 2 types of drawing, analytical and intuitive. The analytical drawing = Academic drawing

You need to take the time to learn it, to repeat, to look, measure and assess relationships, again and again, ...

The intuitive drawing = eye-hand coordination

YOU SHOULD ONLY BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE AND NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU SEE!I maintain that training is of great importance, and I mean really all day.

Gerda Mentens

As an artist, get your own handwriting, with your lines you can show how you handle your material. No one has the same handwriting. That's a certainty!!!

http://www.gerdaaquarel.be/

https://www.facebook.com/gerda.mentens

August Collection

Mahesh Mankar. 35x55 cm

Sarfraz Muzawir.38x56 cm

Ping Long. Sketch

Konstantin Sterkhov. 28x38

Yuko Nagayam

Tulay Sayilgan

Lian Gang

Thomas W. Schaller. South on the 110, LA

Red by Wan Wei, III place IWS contest

The painting by a Chinese artist Wan Wei has won the III prize of the International Watercolor Society Contest. The young master has provided some of the close-ups to give us a hint how he painted that incredible work.

 Wan Wei. RED. 

Best Friends-2

This painting has been done in 2 sessions. First - wet-in-wet, then after drying and fixing with a tape second session on wet-on-dry.

Konstantin Sterkhov. Best Friends-2. 38x56 cm (15x22") 2013

Igor Sava (Moldova - Italy)

I had a privilege to meet this talented and skillful artist at the Mediterranean Watercolor festival i8n Turkey this year. Here I represent his work if you had no chance to see it before... Workshop - Venice.

 Igor Sava. Moldova-Italy. Venice.

 Igor Sava.

Igor Sava.