Washington watercolorist Pat Holscher won’t be visiting China anytime soon, but one of her paintings will spend the rest of the year in Shenzhen.
“Family Dynamics 1” is one of only 260 works juried into an exhibit at the Shenzhen Art Museum.
A jury of renowned watercolorists plucked Holscher’s painting out of a 2,825 entries to the Shenzhen International Watercolour Biennial exhibit.The works will be exhibited in the Shenzhen Art Museum from Dec. 10 to Jan. 10, 2014.
In the coming weeks, jurists will review the exhibited entries and dole out $80,000 in awards. Best of show will be awarded more than $9,700. In November, artists will be notified of any awards received.
Holscher learned of the exhibit 10 years ago, while president of the North Carolina Watercolor Society. This year, she decided to enter her work.
“It was on a whim,” she said. “I had noticed how some of the people in the American Watercolor Society were entering the show.”
She said it is the biggest show she has ever been juried into.
Before shipping off “Family Dynamics 1,” Holscher labeled it “not for sale.”
“I’m not going to ever sell it because it is my pride and joy. It got me the gold medal in New York,” she said.
The New York recognition came from the American Watercolor Society’s annual International Exhibition in 2009.
When people ask Holscher how long it took her to paint her pride and joy, she says the honest answer is 25 years. Each workshop and degree contributed to her success.
Over the years, she has gone from local recognition to state, regional and national awards. The prizes and exhibits have been sweet rewards for Holscher’s drive and discipline. She spends about 40 hours a week on her art, including six hours a day in her studios.
“To really get down to it, you have to shut yourself off and really just dig deep,” she said.
Holscher earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She returned to school as an adult and studied art at Meredith College.
Holscher said she felt intimidated surrounded by talented teenagers and 20-somethings. Her teacher told her there was no reason to be. Ninety percent of them would not become full-time artists because they lacked the discipline.
Exhibits like the Shenzhen feed Holscher’s discipline.
“The recognition builds confidence and exposure, but it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of lonely time to do it,” she said. “To get it is validation. You could sit there and paint 500 paintings, but if they just sit in the corner, that’s not going to give you the motivation.”