about the award winners
Shane Couch
“My journey as an artist has been driven by my passion and the desire to tell stories through my work. An engineer by trade with no art training, my teacher has been the sea in all its states.
My early years saw me pencil in hand sketching the great scenes from naval history. These sketches at length developed into paintings and eventually, with the encouragement of a gallery owner, I became a professional artist specializing in naval and yachting scenes. I am at my happiest when I am on or by the water and when I paint, I bring the sea home to me.
In 2019 I was honoured to win The Mystic Seaport Yachting Award at the International Marine Art Exhibition. I am currently represented by Palm Avenue Fine Arts Gallery, Cavalier Gallery and the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery.”
Donna Lee Nyzio
Donna Lee paints a variety of imagery to include boats, birds, and horses using oil paint and traditional painting methods on Claybord. She studied art and graduated from Carnegie Mellon, but learned more in workshops and just painting on her own. With Signature status in the American Society of Marine Artists, American Women Artists, and the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, she participates and receives awards in multiple international and national juried exhibitions.
Debbie Daniels
I am a self taught oil painter who has been painting for nearly four decades. I am inspired by the natural beauty of the surroundings where I live in the San Juan Islands and will never tire of painting the sea.
I am a member of the Oil Painters of America and a signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists.
I have been in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the country. I have been published on the cover of the American Society of Marine Artists (summer 2022), in Southwest Art magazine (Dec. 2017) and Northlight Books, Strokes of Genius; Best of Drawing. My work may be found in the permanent collection at hospitals and corporations across the US, most notably at Google in Seattle.
For six months of the year, I work at my studio at Friday Harbor Atelier in Friday Harbor, WA. The other six months of the year, I work in my home studio in New Port Richey, FL.
Paula G. Waterman
As a signature member of both the American Society of Marine Artists and of the Society of Animal Artists, Paula has been making art full time for several decades with a particular emphasis on animals and their habitat. Her gallery representation has included the Gallery at Mystic Seaport (no longer in operation), McBride Gallery and Trippe Gallery in Maryland. Her work is in museum collections and the collections of many private collectors. She resides in Maryland where she works out of a home studio painting in oil and also, on occasion, sculpting.
Rick J. Delanty
Rick J. Delanty is a Californian by birth and in spirit, finding in this state a love for nature and wonder of Creation which he has continued to explore in his colorful and expressive oil and acrylic landscape paintings. Rick is a national award-winning artist in plein air competitions around the West, and in exhibitions across the United States, including the California Art Club’s Gold Medal show.
He has practiced his craft professionally for fifty years, painting from Big Sur to Niagara Falls, and teaching and demonstrating in a variety of venues. His work is in the permanent collection of two prominent museums, with twenty-seven paintings in one of the largest private collections of California art in the nation. Feature articles concerning his work have appeared in many national publications, as well as a book he authored entitled Beauty Unites Us. Rick is affiliated with several professional organizations, as Signature member of Laguna Plein Air Painters Assn., The American Impressionist Society, and Artist member of the California Art Club, among others.
Mary Pettis
Mary Pettis’ oil paintings stand on the cutting edge of the International Contemporary Realism movement. Her decades of training and the experiences are a catalyst for a symbolic visual language of expression that celebrates the beauty, dignity and worth of this world and its inhabitants. Mary and her husband Randy live along the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in Minnesota.
Carolyn Hesse-Low
Carolyn Hesse-Low graduated from University of California and continued her art training at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Her paintings have been shown in over 150 museum exhibitions and countless galleries and art institutes nationally. She has been selected to paint in plein air invitational and juried events throughout the country.
Carolyn was the cover feature artist for Plein Air Magazine, and her work has also been featured in Southwest Art, American Art Collector, Art of the West and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines. Her work has been published in several books, including California Light: A Century of Landscapes; Painting California: Seascapes and Beach Towns; and Land of Sunlight: Paintings of San Diego County. Her work has received numerous awards, including Best of Show, Best Studio Landscape, Publisher’s Choice, Medal of Honor, Award of Excellence, along with numerous First Place awards.
Carolyn Hesse-Low is a Signature Member of American Society of Marine Artists, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, American Impressionist Society, Outdoor Painters Society, National Watercolor Society and Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. She is an Artist Member of the California Art Club. Her work is represented in national and international collections.
Nishita Jain
Nishita is a Maryland-based watercolor artist. She is a signature member with the American Society of Marine Artists, Baltimore Watercolor Society, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, and Philadephia Water Color Society. Her paintings have been exhibited in several prestigious regional and national juried exhibitions, organized by leading watercolor societies in the country, including the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Society of Watercolor Society.
Recent awards:
2024 Houston's 47th International Watermedia Exhibition - 2nd Place
2024 Splash Best of Watercolor - Honorable Mention & Finalist
2023 Philadelphia Water Color Society Member Show - 3rd Place
2022 Philadelphia Water Color Society International Works on Paper Exhibition - Helen Farr Sloan Award
2022 National Watercolor Society's Member Exhibition - President's Award
See information about the other accepted artists: