October 11, 2012
Watercolorist and Shawnee State University Professor Lane Raiser's painting "Seed Faith" has won "Best of Show" at the 2012 Midwest National Abstract Art Exhibition VIII at the Garfield Park Arts Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The painting won a gold medal in the Ohio Watercolor show in 2009. He also won a gold medal for his "Axis Mundi" watercolor in 2008.
Raiser has collected hundreds of images of potential subjects where he finds the inspiration for his paintings that win numerous awards every year.
"A lot of what happens in watercolor is like a gift which you could not achieve," Raiser said. "The medium redeems life's less than interesting human agenda which makes it a lot more exciting."
The painting is in a series that is based on the ice formed in his creek in the winter. He walked the creek and took photos that he used later in this watercolor series.
"Abstraction is a distillation of reality," he said. "It's not unreal. It is trying to intensify reality."
