Valerie Watson to give free watercolor demonstration Sept. 7 and 8 at Millsboro Art League

Artist Valerie Watson will offer free watercolor demonstrations of Native American subjects from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Sept. 7 and 8, at the Millsboro Art League, 203 Main St. in Millsboro.

Watson’s large-scale watercolor paintings begin with spontaneous moments captured with her camera. These moments feature Cuban music and dance, African marketplaces and Native American tribal dances.

“In my paintings, I exploit photographic effects - cropped images, blurred detail, deep shadow, bleeding color and the frozen gesture,” Watson said. “I blow up images to larger-than-life dimensions to reanimate them with intensified color and form. Street scenes and outdoor settings provide my most evocative images.”

Watson describes watercolor as a vibrant medium for expressing and illuminating life.

Watson earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore in 1994. She has been awarded an Individual Artist Grant by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Governor’s Award of Merit and a listing in Who’s Who in America.

Her paintings have been featured in regional solo shows and internationally in Havana, Cuba; Asuncion, Paraguay; and currently, Rangoon, Burma, through the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies program. Previously, Watson worked as a visual arts specialist at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and is now an adjunct instructor at Prince George’s Community College, teaching Watercolor I and II. She also serves as a visual art consultant to Prince George’s County Public Schools.

For more information on the Millsboro Art League go to millsboroartleague.com.