1. Tallahassee Democrat 08/30/2015 Page : D01
Copyright © 2015 Tallahassee Democrat. All rights reserved. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy/You
2007. 08/30/2015
August 31, 2015 3:56 am / Powered by TECNAVIA
Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page
T
here’s no library
atmosphere when
water media artist
and President of the
Tallahassee Watercol-
or Society Penny G. Anderson,
starts creating. Reggae, ska,
and punk rhythms can be
heard in the background, along
with bands such as Third Eye
Blind, Matchbox 20, Steely
Dan, and George Ezra. She’s
often told that she paints joy-
fully, something she attributes
to this practice.
“I think I paint happy because,
first of all, it fulfills me, and sec-
ondly I have those beats in my
head,” says Anderson. “It really
carries me through.”
As a teacher at Brush and Pal-
ette since January, Anderson puts
on music for her students every
day, and believes it greatly en-
hances the process. The group
calls themselves the Hot Splashes,
and as their leader, Anderson tries
to find whatever is newest in the
world of watercolor in order to
enrich everyone’s work. She
learns something from everyone,
and never wants to hear “I can’t”
in the studio.
“Can’t never could. That’s an
old southern thing,” laughs An-
derson. “If you feel like you can’t
do something, you won’t be able to.
But if you feel that you can, dive
in and do it.”
Amanda Sieradzki
Council on Culture & Arts
Painting to music gives joyful twist to President of
Tallahassee Watercolor Society’s vibrant watercolors
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF PENNY G. ANDERSON
1. A Glorious Sunny Day
2. Huey, Dewey and Louie 3. Freckled Faces
See SUNNY » 3D
TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2015 » 1D

2. Tallahassee Democrat 08/30/2015 Page : D03
Copyright © 2015 Tallahassee Democrat. All rights reserved. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy/You
2007. 08/30/2015
August 31, 2015 3:58 am / Powered by TECNAVIA
Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page
Want to learn to play Bridge?
Beginner Classes
Starting Now
Tallahassee Duplicate Bridge Club
Invites you to join the game
FSU ONLINE
SURPLUS
SALE
View auction at Public Surplus
(http://goo.gl/X5Uf3E).
All You Need is
French?
Though her formal
education from Florida
State is in Business and
Communications, An-
derson has always been
immersed in the arts,
including music and
dance. She has a knack
for expressing herself on
paper through writing
and poetry, but always
wanted to be a visual
artist.
“Art is communicat-
ing, just in a beautiful
way,” states Anderson.
Her relationship with
art began at a young age
alongside her father. He
would purchase paints
and supplies for them to
make artwork in tandem.
Anderson started with
acrylics and liked that
imperfections could be
painted over.
As an adult, it was at
Flamingo Gardens in
South Florida where she
found watercolor class-
es, and learned from
professionals about
technique, matting,
framing, and the logis-
tics of an exhibition.
Anderson enjoyed the
challenge in coming up
with unique ways to
paint, working in a diffi-
cult medium where one
can’t cover up mistakes.
“I learned that you
have to have quality
supplies,” says Ander-
son. “If I was going to be
serious about it, I had to
invest.”
Moving back to her
hometown, Anderson
was ready to develop her
own watercolor style in
Tallahassee’s suppor-
tive, artsy community.
She went online and
found group classes,
leading her to TaWS.
“If I find something I
love I just step right in
and do what I can to
help,” says Anderson,
whose passion for in-
volvement has had her
serve on PTAs, women’s
groups, and educational
councils.
Anderson worked in
publicity for a season
before stepping up as
TaWS’s Vice-President
for three years and Co-
Chair of the Tri-State
Annual Juried Water
Media Exhibition. Since
serving as President of
the organization in 2013
and 2014, she’s excited to
watch the society’s ex-
panding membership,
stating that all are wel-
come, including acrylic
and aqueous medium
painters.
“I like to see us pro-
gress and be a part of
the 21st century,” says
Anderson. “We’re a big
organization and we’re
really modern.”
She is a signature
member of TaWS, Geor-
gia Watercolor Society
and the Watercolor Soci-
ety of Alabama, indicat-
ing that her work has
been recognized in a
certain number of exhi-
bitions. Anderson as-
pires to achieve signa-
ture status in the Amer-
ican and National Water-
color Societies.
When it comes to her
paintings, she calls her-
self a colorist and feels
that the medium
shouldn’t just be trans-
parent. She strives for a
rich palette full of bright
colors like dazzling tur-
quoises or electric
pinks.
“I like to put things
together that on the
color wheel may not go,”
says Anderson, who
terms herself as too
“wild” for the purists
who mix with only red,
yellow, and blue.
Her paintings jump
off the paper. Artworks
like Beach Geek, featur-
ing a figure spotted on a
Myrtle Beach trip, and
Huey, Dewey, and Louie,
which showcases a trio
of boats as the main
subject matter, are
named with the help of
her husband, lending
humor to each work.
Anderson also ventures
into abstraction, like
Rhythms and Dance,
which captures moving
figures in a sea of warm
oranges and reds.
“I try to tackle things
that I’m not comfortable
with at first,” says An-
derson.
Inspired by her gar-
den, popular subjects
also include flora and
fauna like azaleas, ama-
ryllis, and magnolias.
Last fall she worked
from reference photos
that were overexposed
in the center, thus hav-
ing to create the vibran-
cy and details of the
tropical flowers in her
piece Bird of Paradise
from imagination.
“[It’s a] wonderful
feeling when you start a
painting and it just flows
from your brush,” says
Anderson. “It just comes
from your heart.”
Her iris, Miss Fancy
Pants, will appear in this
year’s Brush Strokes
juried exhibition, along
with a portrait of her
niece, Katija the Flower
Girl. Presented by CO-
CA, the annual show in
the City Hall Art Gallery
features more than 50
water media paintings
from TaWS members.
Anderson says she’s
learned the most from
critiques and exhibi-
tions. In a favorite work-
shop with artist Kath-
leen Conover, she used
old credit cards to rei-
magine “throwaway”
watercolor paintings.
This developed her art-
ist’s eye to see some-
thing redeeming in all
artwork, and a poetic
philosophy on how to
find the good in every-
thing.
“I find the more I
paint and create that I
can look at something
like the angles of build-
ing or a street and see
something in it that I’d
like to paint,” says An-
derson “It’s just a whole
way of viewing life.”
Amanda Sieradzki is the feature
writer for the Council on Culture &
Arts. COCA is the capital area’s
umbrella agency for arts and
culture (www.tallahasseearts.org).
Continued » 1D
Sunny
PENNY ANDERSON
LEFT: Penny Anderson: “I like to put things together that on the color wheel may not go.” RIGHT: Summer Rentals
IF YOU GO
What: 2015 Brush Strokes –
Tallahassee Watercolor
Society Members Exhibi-
tion
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Aug.
19 through Sept. 28
Where: City Hall Art Gal-
lery, 300 South Adams
Street
Admission: Free
Details: For more in-
formation please call
Amanda Karioth Thomp-
son at (850) 224-2500 or
amanda@cocanet.org. For
more on Penny G. An-
derson, please visit http://
www.pennygandersonwa-
tercolors.com/
If we approach an
unfamiliar intersection
and there is no visible
traffic control device
fect Octagon. You walk
back to look. Yup, it’s a
stop sign alright, un-
mistakable, white re-
placement car and you
continue life.
To be sure, the other
guy consults his at-
el as the day of the
traffic crash. And
guess what; there is no
stop sign! But wait, the
missed! No increase in
insurance premiums,
justice is served. And
the other fellow is re-
State Trooper. Send your questions
and comments about Tallahassee
roads and traffic to him at
crashsites@embarqmail.com.