DENISE ATHANAS AWS, NWS, WHS, AAA

My interest in the arts goes back to my school and college years. I started painting when many years ago I moved to Syracuse, NY. There started a love affair with painting that has become more intense as time goes on.

I am a frequent participant of seminars and workshops presented by internationally recognized artists some of whom I regard as mentors and have become a source of inspiration to me. Finally and most importantly, I keep painting, constantly experimenting and exploring new venues, materials, surfaces, ideas and techniques. I strive to have the viewer of my art see “me” in my work as when I was growing up in Ethiopia and Greece as in my school years in the Sudan and Great Britain and here in the US as a wife and a mother. These  experiences, I believe are reflected in my work - the bold strokes, smooth curves, sharp angles complemented with bright strong colors.

In addition to the American Watercolor Society (AWS) and National Watercolor Society (NWS) I have earned signature status in Watercolor-USA Honor Society(WHS), Watercolor Society of Alabama(WSA), Georgia Watercolor Society (GWS), International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA-NF), International Society of Acrylic Painters (ISAP), San Diego Watercolor Society (SDWS), Missouri Watercolor Society (MOWS), Philadelphia Watercolor Society(PWCS), Pennsylvania Watercolor Society (PWS), Pittsburgh Watercolor Society(PWS), Texas Watercolor Society (TWS-PS), Western Federation of Watercolor Societies (WFWS), Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Society (RMNWS), California Watercolor Association (CWA),  Southern Watercolor Society (SW), Illinois Watercolor Society(IWS), South Carolina Watermedia Society(SCWS), Western Colorado Watercolor Society (WCWS) and Mississippi Watercolor Society(MSWS). I am also an elected member of the National Association of Women Artists(NAWA) and Allied Artists  of America (AAA).

Cirque du Soleil, watercolor