Greetings from Wiegardt Studio Gallery.

Labor Day Weekend is usually the time I judge how well the business has done over the year.  We are thankful that we have been busy sending paintings out the door!

In our personal lives, our sons Nate and Zachary are now graduated from Washington State University and have landed jobs as civilian contractors for the Navy in Bremerton.  Our eldest daughter Kelly is starting her 3rd year at Washington State and is looking at Nursing as a career.

That leaves Esther (14) and Cody (12) - our nephew - still at home.  So the raising of children is not through yet!

Business News

I am judging for the Kansas National Watercolor Exhibition this year, held in Wichita.  It is always such a pleasure and honor to work with artists from around the country.

I am pleased that one of my latest paintings “Loading At Twilight” has been accepted in the National Watercolor Society Exhibition in Los Angeles.  I consider this a true privilege.

Later this season, my work will be exhibited at the Scott-Milo Gallery in Anacortes, Washington, with a featured showing on November 6th.

My new print “Glass Floats” has resonated well with many collectors, and has brought many childhood memories to families of beachcombers.  If you look closely on my website, www.ericwiegardt.com, you can see a special reflection in one of the glass floats.

School of Painting

The School of Painting has been very well received so I will continue classes this fall.  Classes will begin October 14th and will be held at the Artisan in Ilwaco.

We are excited that the first book of the School of Painting Series will be available to the public in January.  This series will represent a very practiced hands-on approach to painting.

We will also be adding a School of Painting Membership Program for those who wish to share in the community of  School of Painting attendees.  This will be an opportunity to share your work, ideas and tips with fellow students and me.  We will be adding special programs as time goes on to benefit you as you discover the world of watercolor...so stay tuned as more details become available.

I've recently written an article for the Northwest Watercolor Society that you may find interesting:

Showing our Humanness

In my last article, I discussed several important principles helpful in developing a good composition. I mentioned that I would follow up in this article with some pointers on how to develop an area of dominance. I've chosen to discuss this at a later date and digress to a topic that represents a weakness I am seeing in the art world, especially in my chosen profession of watercolor. Namely, it seems to me that we artists are afraid to show our humanness.
[click here for the rest of the article]

I mentioned in our previous newsletter that we were updating the Gallery. Here is my impression of the results:

I look forward to having you stop by and view my latest paintings.  I’ve been quite fascinated in capturing the broad expanse of Willapa Bay and all its subtleties.  I would enjoy sharing my latest work.

-Eric