Washington artist Gale Champion is one of eight featured artists in the second-annual Edgewood Artists in Residence program.

Elliott Daingerfield’s legacy continues at Edgewood Cottage — his first home and studio — where he held his “Painting Lady” classes at the turn of the 20th century. The legacy continues with the second-annual program that features eight artists during a period of eight weeks. The period began June 21 and ends Aug. 15.

Champion’s artwork is on display from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily until Sunday. Champion, also from Blowing Rock, was sponsored by the Blowing Rock Historical Society.

Champion has been painting most of her life. She started with oils. Now, she paints primarily with  watercolors. She fell in love with watercolor when she took her first class under Thomas Cowan, a watercolor artist from Rutherford County. Her subject matter includes representational landscapes from local areas and from her travels abroad. She also paints florals and still-life.

She strives to express her pleasure in painting in a way that transfers to the viewer.

Retirement  has given her the time and opportunity to focus on her career as a watercolor artist. She paints plein-air and from her own photographs.

She was the featured artist at Wachovia Bank in Blowing Rock from November 2010 through January 2011. She won the Margaret Hackney Award as the best Beaufort County artist in the Beaufort County Arts Council’s 46th-annual Fine Arts Show in 2009. That same year, she won second place in the watercolor division of the Martin County Arts Council’s Juried Art Show.

She is a member of the Southern Watercolor Society, North Carolina Watercolor Society and the High Country Watermedia Society. Last year, she was the chairwoman of the Jones House Exhibit/Sale shown in the Maisy Gallery of the Watauga County Arts Council. That event, held each August, is hosted by the High Country Watermedia Society.

She has taken workshops under noted artists, including Joe Miller, Wes Waugh, Frank Webb, Sterling Edwards and Alexis Lavine. Currently, she studies under Jeffery Jakub, who is listed in Who’s Who in American Art.

She lives in Blowing Rock from June through October and in Washington from November through May.

To learn more about Champion, visit her website at www.galechampion.com.