Watercolor USA 2008, the 47th national, competitive exhibition of aqueous media painting, will open June 7th at the Springfield Art Museum in Missouri.

The competition received 674 entries by 369 artists from 42 states. This year's judge was Debra Loomis Tayes, Associate Curator of Fine Art, Southern Illinois Art Gallery, Illinois State Museum. Tayes selected 121 works by 109 artists for the exhibition. “My criterion for selecting the paintings to be awarded was simple," she says. "Was the painting engaging, dynamic, or even magnetic? Did I find myself going back to the piece again and again, even intuitively? Were the visual complexities articulated well? Was there a curiosity in the content? Were the techniques used eclipsed by the beauty of the medium?” (All good questions to consider as you prepare your work for competition season.)