Artists give tips on getting into galleries

What’s in Clark County’s colorful artistic water? An impressive bunch of local watercolorists has been selected for a prestigious annual international watercolor exhibit that’s now on display at the Harbor History Museum in Gig Harbor.

One of them, Bev Jozwiak, learned earlier this week that she won the contest’s first-place award for her “Backstage Adjustments,” a study of nervous young ballet dancers regrouping between scenes. “Pretty cool … pretty shocked,” Jozwiak said.

Sixty watercolor paintings were juried into the Northwest Watercolor Society’s 77th Annual International Open Exhibition — and six of them, or fully 10 percent, came from Clark County artists: Jozwiak, Susan Cowan, M.J. Larson, Vickie Nelson and Denise McFadden. That’s out of more than 450 entries from nine nations and 16 states.

Meanwhile, Ridgefield landscape painter Jennifer Williams has her own show, “Healing Waters,” on display now at the WaterWorks Gallery in Friday Harbor. And, Washougal High School art teacher Evan Rumble had the pleasure of seeing his big, nonwatery work, “Shattered Sandstone, Table Rock, ID, 2017,” juried into a statewide “Teachers as Artists” exhibit at the Maryhill Museum of Art in April.

What’s the secret to getting noticed, out of town? It’s no secret, some said. It’s a matter of taking baby steps toward an artistic vision and, crucially, building your strategic connections. Gallery owners don’t just want to fall in love with your work — they also want to know that you’re productive, reliable, professional. Contest jurors want to see technical mastery, dedication and sophistication — maybe even daring.

“I especially appreciated the work done by those who took risks rather than played it safe,” said Keiko Tanabe, the juror for the watercolor show.

“This is my first international show,” said watercolorist Larson. “It’s an amazing honor and privilege.” But it also took a ton of trying, she said — starting with years of concentrated studio work that slowly generated local sales and awards. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, she said; it wasn’t until she was consistently winning local contests that she felt ready to try for “the next level up.”

Jozwiak is several levels up; she’s reached a point where she only enters national and international shows, which boast good prize money and big audiences. She also keeps busy teaching, and said that winning contests is a great way to win students, too. “I try to keep my name out there because, not only does it help some with sales, it helps fill my watercolor workshops,” she said.

Many prestigious artistic societies bestow “signature status” upon long-standing artists who have been juried into multiple shows, and who consistently create top-quality work.

“When I got my … signature I felt like I had just earned my Ph.D.,” Jozwiak said. “It is not an easy feat.”

First, the work

Long before all that happens, ambitious artists must pay their dues. “Some artists want so badly to be up on the wall, but they haven’t been in the studio yet,” Williams said. “You need depth and focus. It took me 20 years to get to this point.”

That included finding the right subject matter, she said. Something clicked when Williams, fresh out of college, painted a huge, endangered salmon — a surprisingly powerful piece that got her noticed by Pacific Northwest art lovers with a strong sense of place.

“I was moved by the way other people were moved by it,” she said. “I had a strong theme and I wanted to do more.” She challenged herself to do her first series, which is what a gallery needs for a whole exhibition by one artist, and it worked. Williams started showing in galleries — sometimes. More often, she showed in cafes, libraries, office buildings, even the walls of the Water Resources Education Center, a good thematic fit.

“So many businesses are willing and eager to hang local artworks,” she said.

Williams’ artistic vision has remained “very Northwest atmospheric with a lot of water,” she said. Diligent research convinced her that the WaterWorks Gallery in Friday Harbor would be another good fit for that vision, she said — but she also knows the gallery never would have said yes if she didn’t already have a good reputation as a working artist.

“I have a file full of rejection letters to remind me,” she said. “The hard part is not taking any rejection personally. Finding the right fit for your work is the key.”

The internet has changed the world of art submissions and sales, Williams and Larson both said. Locally, Williams posts many exhibit and contest opportunities on the Arts of Clark County Facebook page; more broadly, there’s now a handy nationwide clearinghouse for artists of all sorts called CallForEntries.com.

“It’s little connections, little steps,” Williams said. “However good your work is, you still build a resume one line at a time.”