Beautiful Minds

No matter where Kris Parins goes, ideas are always swirling all around her. She’s always looking for her next painting: the way the light hits an object, the way colors pop out of a landscape.

With a father who loved to paint watercolor and an uncle who worked in the graphic design field, Parins’ interest, passion and talent for art was all but inevitable.

When she moved in 2003 to Sarasota after a career in advertising and design as a graphic artist, Parins found the perfect outlet for her creativity in the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society, which she joined as soon as she heard about it.

“I was blown away by how organized, welcoming and supportive they are,” says Parins. “It’s very inclusive, and there is something for everyone.”

The Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society has been championing, presenting and teaching the art and craft of watercolor for more than 30 years. Founded in 1983, FSWS has combined the talents of retired artists up and down the west coast of Florida who share a love of watercolor.

Converging their talents with at least three juried shows a year, the society’s watercolorists have shown regionally, nationally and abroad. The society’s next juried show will be held Dec. 11 through Jan. 16, at the Art Center Sarasota. The fact that Dean Mitchell, one of the most awarded and accomplished watercolor artists, is the juror of the exhibition speaks to the society’s quality.

Although it serves as a platform for its most awarded talent, the FSWS at its core is a supportive and educational community of artists of every skill level.

“People aren’t closed off about their process,” says Mary Louise Ringers, president of the society. “We’re all friends who share and learn with each other. There’s a lot of camaraderie in the Suncoast.”

With regular public workshops, classes and juried exhibitions in Englewood, Sarasota, Bradenton and Anna Maria Island, the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society is an organization fueled by passion and learning.

“When you come down here from another place with no family or friends, you immediately pick up a connection with people who are like-minded and social,” says Jerome Chesley, former art professor and vice president of the FSWS. “When I found the Florida Suncoast, I latched onto it.”

Friendliness and fraternity notwithstanding, what makes the society is the stunning watercolor art its members produce. Diane Schmidt, a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, was raised in Tucson, Ariz., and worked as an artist for Hallmark Cards while living in Kansas City, Mo. Schmidt’s portfolio is filled with striking and powerful watercolors that blur the lines between abstract and portraiture.

“It’s the first society that I ever joined,” says Schmidt. “It really was a launching pad for me and has made me a better artist.”

Schmidt constructs her abstracts, which burst with intense and exact colors, through a formalized process. Instead of the typical method of spontaneously splashing paint over the canvas like a feverish Rorschach test, Schmidt is methodical in vision and application. There’s always an idea.

For Parins, she trains her eye like an Olympic athlete, always searching for her next piece. Every car ride, trip or errand is potential location casting for her next work. With her camera always by her side, Parins captures moments of people and places that tickle her artistic fancy.

“I’m very inspired by the contrasts of light and dark in what I see during my travels,” says Parins. “I’ll spend a fair amount of my time looking at all these photos and manipulating them on the computer until I have a good subject for a painting.”

Parins’ artistic vision is characteristic of the other watercolorists in the group.

“It’s a way of memorializing something I get excited about,” says Parins, “and it’s nothing monumental but subjects more from everyday life.”

Attraction and attention to the remarkable in everyday life is a major theme for members of the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society. Ringers, Chesley, Schmidt and Parins all expressed a delight of instilling in a viewer a lingering eye, to pause and reflect on the beauty that surrounds them.

“I hope people walk away after seeing one of my paintings with a realization that it’s a beautiful world,” says Ringers.

IF YOU GO 
‘Transparent Show’
When: Runs Dec. 11 through Jan. 16
Where: Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail
Info: Call 365-2032 or visit suncoastwatercolorsociety.com.