Lisa Bumb (pronounced “bum”) had never described herself as an artist–until just recently. Despite her involvement and presence in the art community through the years, Bumb never felt that her paintings matched up to the ones she grew up admiring. In September of 2014, however, her self-image changed: the Ohio Watercolor Society (OWS) accepted her submission of her watercolor painting entitled, “Mermaid Descending.”
“I couldn’t believe it. It was like Christmas in September,” said Bumb.
The Ohio Watercolor Society has been hosting competitive juried exhibitions since its founding in 1978. According to its website, the OWS is a nonprofit educational organization that was founded by “a group of Ohio watercolor artists who were members of the American Watercolor Society (AWS) or whose works had been accepted into one of the juried exhibitions of AWS, NWS, or Watercolor USA during the period 1971 – 1978.”
“Each exhibition is juried by just phenomenal artists, so to get in and to be able to just showcase my piece is so awesome,” said Bumb. “The talent in this showcase is phenomenal.”
When Bumb was a girl growing up in Mansfield, she would ride her blue, Schwinn tandem bike with her twin sister to the Mansfield Art Center to look at the art showcases. Inspired, she remembers longing to try her hand at watercolor painting because of its cheap supplies.
“I was poor, so I would come to the art center for the free showcases. Then I found out that watercolor was pretty cheap. Then I bought myself an eighty-nine cent board. That’s how I got started with watercolor painting,” she remembered. “I didn’t know it was the most difficult because of blending,” she added.
Painting with watercolors is considered technically difficult because of the paint’s tendency to blend with other colors.
Despite its difficulty, Bumb decided to sharpen her skills and to learn to be a better artist. She took lessons at the Mansfield Art Center and she said she signed up for every art class possible while in high school at St. Peter’s. Later in life, she submitted artwork to different shows and has received awards, but she said none match up to being on the same display wall as artists who are part of the OWS showcase.
“Mermaid Descending,” Bumb’s piece in the OWS exhibit, took three months for her to complete. She described her experience with finishing the painting as frustrating, but her determination ultimately paid off.
“It took forever to do; I got frustrated with it. I threw it away, and I got it back out of the basket and I thought, ‘Nope.’ Started working on it again and I go, ‘Nope.’ Put it in the drawer of paintings that no one on God’s green earth is allowed to look at … I pulled it back out of the drawer and I thought, ‘Nope, I’m going to conquer this thing.’” she said.
This year marked the last year she could have submitted “Mermaid Descending” into the OWS Exhibit because paintings must be newer, at most three years old. This particular painting was difficult for Bumb in part because of it’s theme, and because of the detail. The painting is an abstract depiction of the tsunami, represented by the mermaid tail, that struck Japan in 2011.
“All these dots represent something the mermaid took back from the land/world. And all these dots in the water are what the water consumed from the land,” she said. “And because it was so phenomenal, the destruction of the tsunami, and they show these towns … where complete destruction, and all their earthy belongings are gone. So where did they go? They’re still finding them on the California coast,” she reflected.
Although Bumb lives in northwest Ohio currently, her heart belongs in Mansfield. She grew up with her seven siblings, one of which her twin. Bumb said she is thankful and amazed at the chances that one of her paintings ended up in a place she loves. Now she is able to leave a tangible piece of her heart in the Mansfield Art Center.
“You never give up, that’s what I always told my kids. Even if I wasn’t accepted into this [art show], I wouldn’t give up,” said Bumb.
The 37th Annual Ohio Watercolor Society Exhibition will be available to view through Saturday, Oct. 25 on Mansfield Art Center’s second floor at 700 Marion Ave., Mansfield. Operating hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday through Sundays and closed on Monday. For more information, visit their website.
