Barbara Nechis is an artist who has developed a style known for its masterful balance of spontaneity and control of the watercolor brush. She holds a BA in History and Fine Arts from the University of Rochester and an MS from Alfred University . She was a faculty member of Parsons School of Design for many years and has taught seminars at Pratt Institute, throughout North America, Europe, and Asia . She has served as a juror and director of the American Watercolor Society. She is the author of Watercolor From the Heart (Watson-Guptill Publications, 1993) and Watercolor the Creative Experience (North Light Books, 1979). Her work appears in many publications and collections, among them the Butler Institute of American Art, IBM, and Citicorp. She resides in Napa Valley in northern California .

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

American Watercolor Society; National Academy of Design, NYC; International Invitational Watermedia Exhibition, Jiangsu Provence Art Museum, Nanjing, China; National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic; Hudson River Museum; The Katonah Museum; Lincoln Center, NYC; Sarah Lawrence College; Tweed Museum, MN; Allied Artists of NY; The National Arts Club, NYC; Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY; Audubon Artists, NYC; Mainstreams, Marietta College, Ohio; NY Society of Illustrators; Purdue University, IN; Willamette University, Salem, OR; Northern Arizona University Art Gallery, Flagstaff, AZ; Wm Zimmer Gallery, Mendocino, CA; F. Dorian Gallery, San Francisco; Napa Valley Museum, Bard College, NY

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Citicorp; IBM; Banco de Crefisul, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT; CBS; Westinghouse; Peat, Marwick, Mitchell, White Plains, NY; First National City Bank, NYC; McGraw Hill, NYC; Margrit Biever Mondavi, Napa Valley, CA; The Napa Valley Heritage Foundation

JUROR: SELECTED LIST

American Watercolor Society; National Watercolor Society, members exhibition, CA; Transparent Watercolor Society of America; Watercolor West; Oregon Watercolor Society; Alabama Watercolor Society Exhibition, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts; Arizona Aqueous XVII, Tubac Center for the Arts; New England Watercolor Society national exhibit; Sierra Watercolor Society, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno; Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society national exhibition; Georgia Watercolor Society national exhibition; Southwestern Watercolor Society; St. Louis Artists Guild multimedia exhibition; Hawaiian Watercolor Society; Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, Art Museum of S. Texas, Corpus Christi (co-juror Millard Sheets) Albuquerque Museum; Whatcom Museum of History & Art Northwest International Art Competition Bellingham (co-juror Howard Fox); National Arts Club; Audubon Artists; San Diego Watercolor Society International Exhibition. (co-juror Keith Crown)

HONORS

Elected to Membership: American Watercolor Society, Philadelphia Watercolor Club, Audubon Artists, Artists Equity (Board of Directors, 1978-1981); Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour (US representative and panelist); Finalist, Roy Acuff Chair Professorship of Excellence in the Center for the Creative Arts, Austin Peay State University , Clarksville TN.

Guest Demonstrator: American Watercolor Society ( National Academy of Design) and National Watercolor Society,

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS WHICH INCLUDE HER WORK:

  • Watercolor From The Heart: techniques for painting the essence of nature; Barbara Nechis, Watson-Guptill, ISBN 0-8230-1624-2, 1993.
  • Watercolor The Creative Experience; North Light Publishers, 1979, ISBN 0- 89134-021-1,hard cover, 0-89134-066-1, paperback.
  • Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary International Watermedia Masters , Jiangsu Watercolor Research Institute, 2007.
  • American Artist Magazine, Watercolor 20th Anniversary Issue, 20 Great Teachers by M Stephen Doherty and Beth Patterson, Fall 2006.
  • The Artist's Muse: Unlock the Door to Your Creativity, Betsy Dillard Stroud, North Light Books, 2006
  • Watercolor Magic, Taking Your Art to the Next Level: Tales from the Best to Help you Be Your Best by Cathy Johnson, April, 2004 .
  • Watercolor Magic, The Spring of Creativity by Betsy Dillard Stroud, May, 2003
  • Association for Humanistic Psychology, website featured artist, May 2002- ongoing.
  • The Collected Best of Watercolor, Rockport Publishers, 2002
  • The Palette Magazine, Barbara Nechis finding nature in abstraction, featured article by Christopher Schink issue #1, April 2002.
  • Hong Kong Watercolour, Hong Kong Water Colour Research Society Co.Ltd. Invited American guest, 2001.
  • American Artist Magazine, The Watercolor Page, Special Issue, Studios, Kathleen Baxter, Associate Editor, November 2000.
  • Landscape-A comprehensive Guide to Drawing and Painting Nature, Richard McDaniel, Watson-Guptill, 1997.
  • Best of Watercolor-Painting Light and Shadow, Rockport Publishers, 1997.
  • Creative Watercolor, Mary Ann Beckwith, Rockport Publishers, 1997.
  • Strengthen Your Paintings with Dynamic Composition, Frank Webb, ;North Light, 1994.
  • Learn Watercolor the Edgar Whitney Way , Ron Ranson, North Light 1994.
  • American Artist, Watercolor, Recent Images, Recent Concerns, M. Stephen Doherty, (interview with six artists), Fall Issue, 1993.
  • Splash 2, Rachel Ward, North Light, 1992.
  • Transparent Painting Techniques, Julia Jordan, Watson-Guptill, 1992.
  • American Artist, 50 th anniversary article Chrystallizing Experience, Mary Carroll Nelson, Feb 1987, Experiences of 26 artists chosen from 2,500 featured artists.
  • Artists Video Productions, Barbara Nechis Videocassette, 1986.
  • Design and Composition, North Light Art School , Book IV, 1986.
  • Color, North Light Art School , Book V, 1986.
  • Exploring Color, Nita Leland, North Light, 1985.
  • Watercolor Energies, Frank Webb, North Light, 1983.
  • Artist in Residence, American Artist, May 1983.
  • Painting Flowers with Watercolor, Ethel Todd George, North Light, 1980.
  • New York Graphic Society, Barbara Nechis Watercolors, published 1979,81,84.