In keeping with the North East Watercolor Society tradition of having an hour-long art demonstration during the art reception, on Sunday, March 2 midway through the reception for the exhibit Saluting the North East Watercolor Society, the demonstration will feature award-winning watercolorist Marilyn Rose. Her topic will offer perspective to the purpose of photography in the creation of a watercolor which is a fast medium. Using photo reference to tell your story effectively in Watercolor will give attendees insight into reference versus copying, and refreshing one’s remembrance of an image. Rose uses multiple references of seemingly ordinary scenes to plan a composition, decide which elements are necessary and which can be omitted or simply implied to create a harmonious painting. The demo begins at 2:30pm in the center of the exhibit space in Orange Hall Gallery.

Additionally, on Thursday, March 6, Marilyn Rose will teach and discuss the medium of watercolor at the master class The Joy of Watercolor: learning how to work with the medium to create loose, vibrant, paintings that seem to paint themselves. This approach to the watercolor medium is Rose’s signature way of creating her very successful paintings. The two-hour session starts at 5:15pmin Orange Hall Gallery and is designed to be a participatory experience for attendees. Quality paper and paints will be supplied. Other necessary supplies are available for use, but bring your own if you care to.

Visitors and attendees to Orange Hall Gallery will have the opportunity of viewing Marilyn Rose’s loose, vibrant paintings on display on the Fringe wall in her solo show Watercolor Stories. The show is a visual conceptualization of why, what, and how she paints. “While her paintings take the natural world around her as their subject matter, they document both an inner and outer journey. They are really about edges; the places where things meet: paint and paper, light and shadow, pigment and water, reality and abstraction.”

Marilyn Rose is a member of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, the Northeast Watercolor Society, the New Jersey Watercolor Society, and the Garden State Watercolor Society. She has been selected to participate in plein air competitions including Paint Annapolis, Wayne (PA) PleinAir, and PleinAir Easton. Her work has been featured in Plein Air Magazine. Marilyn Rose earned her BFA as a Fred Conway Fine Arts Fellow from Washington University in St. Louis, MO and then came to NYC to begin her career in graphic design where she eventually created her own graphic firm, Marilyn Rose Design.

The exhibit, demonstration, and master class are free and open to the public. The exhibit runs January 21 through March 14, Monday - Thursday  - 8am to 8pm and Friday - 8am to 5pm.

Orange Hall is located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview Avenues

(GPS: 24 Grandview Avenue), Middletown. Questions may be directed to

Cultural Affairs at (845)341-4891 and cultural@sunyorange.edu