Contact: Margaret Kovar
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi watercolor painter Wyatt Waters demonstrated his techniques and discussed his life as an artist during a free event at Mississippi State Thursday.
Sponsored by the MSU Artist-in-Residency program featuring William "Bill" Dunlap, Waters shared stories, musings and techniques with an audience that included students, faculty, staff and members of the community.
Waters brought copies of many of his watercolors and gave insight into his painting style while painting a portrait of Dunlap.
Waters said that for him, the real appeal of art is connecting with one person.
"You do this for yourself, but you do it to connect with people too. And you have to have a generosity of spirit," he said. "You have to connect with people somehow and sometimes its strange ways that makes those connections."
The Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel have hosted solo shows of Waters' work and two books of his paintings have been published. He is currently represented by Gallery 119 in Jackson and Southside Gallery in Oxford.
The artist is a past president and signature member of the Mississippi Watercolor society and his work has been featured in numerous magazine articles including American Artists Special Watercolor Issues, Art and Antiques, and Mississippi Magazine.
Waters studied painting and drawing at Mississippi College in Clinton, receiving his bachelor's degree in art with a minor in English and later a Master of Fine Arts.
The university's art department recently established the artist-in-residence program to enhance its mission of preparing students for careers or advanced studies. The program emphasizes studio practice, liberal arts, visual language and exposure to regional, national and international artists.
For more information about the artist-in-residency program, contact the MSU art department at 662-325-2202.