As American Society of Marine Artists has evolved over the past 40 years, so too have the ways in which we communicate. I don’t just mean the evolution of the newsletter to this News & Journal, but also the ways we bond as a community of artists and patrons, and the ways we educate ourselves and others about marine art and maritime history.
Technology now allows us to share images and stories and ideas in an instant through emails and social media, and to handle the dry but essential matters of jury submissions, membership dues and conference reservations through online systems. We will soon be improving our website to better present the work of our members, and to make it easier to use.
That leaves a lot of room for the printed News & Journal to become something to hold onto, to read carefully, to linger over. The Editorial Board of the News & Journal has worked hard to present a publication that is interesting and inspiring, and I deeply appreciate all that has gone into creating it. I hope you enjoy this next step in the way our Society communicates who we are.
My own view of who we are has grown over the more than thirty years I’ve been connected to ASMA, which began when my dad, Peter Egeli, joined and later became President. I began my career in illustration, portraiture, and landscapes and shorelines, not thinking my work fit with the high seas, historic battles and blue water of the ASMA artists I had grown up around. But my dad encouraged me to join, and I found an evolving Society with a broader range of subjects and styles. Being a member of ASMA has brought me into a community of incredible artists and pushed me to elevate my own work, reaching higher all the time. I believe there is real value in how this organization offers us the opportunity to learn how to become better artists while also sharing our passion and our art with the rest of society. By doing this we grow the field of marine art and also those that support it.
