Viewing a wide variety of subject matters and styles of the submitted images was both inspiring and entertaining, and I was impressed with how well each artist demonstrated their skill and knowledge on watermedia. As a juror, I looked at how the artist utilized their overall skill to come up with a good design and a strong composition. I also studied how uniquely they expressed their vision.  All the selected paintings excelled on these points. For award-winning pieces, I particularly wanted to recognize the artist's ability to communicate their intended narrative through their bold usage of values, brushstrokes, and colors as well as their high level of mastery of the medium. Congratulations to all the artists in this year's show and my sincere thank you to the Colorado Watercolor Society for the honor given to me.

- Keiko Tanabe

31 st Annual CWS State Watercolor Exhibition 2022 Award Winners

Best of Show - Title: Six Horses Artist: Susan Marion

1 st Place Founders Award - Title: Hay Barn Artist: Randy Hale

2 nd Place Award of Excellence - Title: Testing the Water Artist: Nancy Sullo

3 rd Place Award of Excellence - Title: The Way I Remember It Artist: Scott Roberts

4 th Place Merit Award - Title: Exodus Artist: Sandy Day Selbert

5 th Place Merit Award - Title: Up A Tree Artist: Kathy Cranmer

Chuck Danford Celebration Award - Title: Gyotaku Artist: Rosemarie Lahnert

1 – Honorable Mention - Title: Deep Purple Artist: Susan Lyons

2 – Honorable Mention - Title: Ups-a-Daisy Artist: Linden Kirby

3 – Honorable Mention - Title: More Than Meets the Eye Artist: Janis Goldblatt

4 – Honorable Mention - Title: Wednesday Morning In Crested Butte Artist: Steve Griggs

Chuck Danford Award

We want to sincerely thank Chuck Danford and his family for their outpouring of love for CWS. The award created in his name was presented by his family in this photo. Thank you for your continued support of the arts. We are eternally grateful for what Chuck has done for our society and for water media as a whole.

Those in the photo from left to right are:

Barbara Danford, Chuck’s wife; Rosemarie Lohnert, Award Winner; Susan Geffrey, Chuck’s Daughter; Stella Geffrey, Chuck’s Grand Daughter

Congratulations to all artists listed below whose artwork has been selected to be displayed in the exhibition.