Via Community News Service, a VTSU-Castleton internship, for Rutland Herald
WELLS — Local watercolor artist Lynn D. Pratt has once again been accepted into the American Watercolor Society’s International Exhibition, this year for her baseball-inspired painting “In the Pocket.” Her work will be displayed at the 159th annual exhibition, which runs April 7 through May 1 at the Salmagundi Club in New York City.
Pratt, of Wells, has been a full-time watercolor artist for about 12 years and earned her signature membership in the society five years ago in honor of three art acceptances. Starting out in her first year at Rutland’s Art in the Park, Pratt said that becoming a member is one of her favorite memories.
Pratt’s artistic journey began with a college class she took for fun, which resumed years later as a hobby to keep her busy during her children’s nap time.
“I started back up just for fun — I was using the paints I had from college,” she said. “I had no idea it would go this far!”
As a full-time architect, Pratt didn’t have a lot of time to work on her newfound love of watercolor; she spent many nights splashing a canvas with details after coming home from a long day of work. She shared her first finished painting on Facebook, where she then received comments asking if it was for sale and how much she wanted for it.
With attention toward her paintings picking up and her architecture firm still booming, she knew she was going to have to make a decision.
“I thought to myself, ‘This might go somewhere,’ but I knew there was no way to juggle both jobs with two new babies,” Pratt said.
Her husband advised her not to take any more clients for her firm and continue painting until the end of the year. If it wasn’t profitable, she could resume taking clients.
“It worked out perfectly, and I never took another client again,” she said.
Not only was turning her hobby into a full-time job beneficial for her, but Pratt’s children are left inspired by their mother’s hard work and dedication.
Her children, Timothy and Ashley Pratt, gave testament to this.
“Growing up with an artist figure was definitely an amazing thing, because it always showed me that no matter what I wanted to make or do, I can make it possible,” Timothy said. “It has really shown me that I can do whatever I want to do, even if it’s something that’s uncommon.”
Ashley said there is no way she would be where she is now if it weren’t for her mom. Since she was a kid, she always had the supplies available to create art, allowing her to draw since she could first remember.
“I love to create art and now have found my own form of it in tattooing,” she said. “I would never have found this without my mom and the amount of support I get from my family.”
Pratt incorporates her family into her paintings in creative ways — some that become memories to keep forever — like her piece “Lost and Found,” which expresses her and Timothy’s shared love of shoes.
“When it came to life through painting, not only could I wear the shoes on my feet, but I could also put a beautiful painting on my wall that would always make me think of her when I saw it,” Timothy said.
Her family’s love of baseball inspired “In the Pocket,” the piece accepted to this year’s exhibition.
Pratt recalled the day she was asked to take home a bucket of old, beat-up practice balls by her son’s baseball coach. She photographed the balls to recreate them in a painting, which later inspired the glove and baseball that she created for the contest.
She said the painting is darker and has more shadows than her normal style, but she believes this helps portray the story and emotion of the piece.
When she first returned to watercolor, her idea was to be loose and flowy. She looked at watercoloring as the “yin to her yang,” as architects had her in very particular orders of style. However, right from the beginning, Pratt said it was clear to her that loose was not going to be her style.
Her detail-oriented work is further recognized by artist friend Lana Privitera.
“What makes Lynn stand out from other realist artists is the subjects she chooses and the way she arranges the elements in her paintings,” Privitera said. “She possesses a true talent for storytelling and composition, and jurors have recognized and awarded those qualities in her paintings on numerous occasions.”
Although the process of this painting wasn’t entirely smooth, it makes for a funny story.
Pratt said she put down her glove painting for one to two months in the middle of working on it, since the due date for submission was far out. After completely forgetting the due date, she received an email reminder, only to find out that three other fellow artists did the same thing. Within the last 48 hours, all of them were posting last-minute updates, staying up all night to finish on time.
“It was good to see I was not the only one,” Pratt said with a laugh. “I ended up turning it in one hour before the deadline.”
All three of the artists ended up making it into the exhibition.
Pratt also reaches watercolor artists around the country and world through her online school, which has more than 300 students, and her international group “Women in Watercolor,” which has more than 700 online members in over 60 countries.
With every watercolor painting comes what Pratt likes to call “the ugly stage,” the point when the painting just looks like a splash of colors that makes you wonder, “Am I going to be able to pull this off?” Pratt says.
“Fake it until you make it, and keep practicing,” she added. “You’re not going to be great from the beginning, but if you put in the time, it will pay off.”
Before publication, Pratt announced she had won the AWS Gold Medal of Honor, the first-place award for the competition.