“3 Car Pile up” wins 3 awards!

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Local artist and photographer Lana Cease has been honored with three awards for her water color painting “3 Car Pile up,” by the National Watercolor Society.

The artwork is currently on exhibit at the National Watercolor Society gallery in San Pedro, California, according to the artists’ news release.

“I have been trying to be included in this exhibition for about six years now and I’m thrilled to finally be accepted,” she said in the release.

The exhibit features artists not only from the United States, but throughout the world. Cease, who is a photographer by trade, is a watercolorist in her spare time. She has created art her entire life, but has focused on watercolor almost exclusively the last seven years. 

Her piece “3 Car Pile up,” won a purchase award, which means the original work will be purchased and placed in a permanent collection of “Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff,” based in North Carolina. 

Out of nearly 1,000 entries, only 100 were included in the show and only five of those were awarded the purchase award.

“This is a great honor,” said Cease. “This is equivalent to winning an Academy Award for a watercolor artist.”

She received two other awards including a cash award from the Gold Coast Watercolor Society and a merchandise award from En Plein Air Pro, which offered a product as a gift. Cease chose a Plein Air tripod with plans to paint more plein air (outside, from life) in the future.

According to her news release, should Cease receive two more international exhibitions, she will receive signature status with NWS, a high honor, allowing her to sign all of her paintings with the “NWS” tag, reserved for elite watercolorists worldwide.

Cease and several local artists plan to hold a small works show and sale the weekend of the Shop Hop, Dec. 6-7 at her studio, 115 S. Main St. To view more of her work, visit www.lanacease.com.

Article originally published by The Maryville Forum www.maryvilleforum.com