July Windows Article

by Ellen Huddy

This month I will be writing about the two featured RAL Gallery Windows artists, as usual, but this will be different since I, Ellen Huddy, am one of the two watercolor artists who will be exhibiting. This will be a first time for me, and also as a new exhibitor inside the RAL Gallery. Our other featured artist will be Doug Mock, who is well known at the RAL Art Center as the executive director there. He is a very talented watercolorist and has also been one of my watercolor instructors through the workshop programs at the RAL Art Center.

I started out in the world of "Commercial Art", as it was then known in 1973, doing illustrations and graphic layouts. Although I enjoyed this kind of graphic design art, I had always wanted to learn to paint. After moving to the Northern Neck in 2013, I had the opportunity to do so by becoming a member of the RAL Art Center. There, I started with beginner watercolor classes and progressed through different levels with various instructors over the years. Not only have I greatly enjoyed and benefited from these classes, but I have also enjoyed getting to know and being inspired by the many talented artists I've met there.

The beauty of the rural countryside and the Chesapeake Bay waters are my inspiration! My Window will feature some watercolors of boats and landscapes which have captured my interest. Each painting I do represents a moment or an experience in my life, often working from a photo which was taken by either myself or a family member. Although these moments are unique to me, they are not uncommon experiences, and it is my hope that the viewer may also identify with that moment and appreciate what it may mean to them.

Doug Mock is a native of rural Central Pennsylvania, and now a permanent resident of the Northern Neck. After pursuing a career in the corporate world, he left and started his own business in 2005. As owner and managing director of his Richmond-based business, The Young Rembrandts, he taught children how to draw, introducing them to the world of art. Doug has a passion for drawing, painting and creating. He not only teaches but enjoys painting at his home studio and is a talented portrait artist.

One painting exhibited in the Gallery Windows titled, "Undercover", is a piece that Doug painted from a photo that he took of a man's feet underneath a picnic table at a coffee shop in Richmond. He was inspired by the strong linear elements of the table legs and the contrast of the soft lines of the human form, the man's feet. The colors and the lines draw the viewer in and create a most interesting composition. Doug's other paintings include one of his 10 year old nephew fishing at the dock, and one of a waterman gathering his catch of the morning. These pieces reflect Doug's wonderful skill at capturing the human figure engaged in the different endeavors of everyday life.

Doug is a signature member of the Virginia Watercolor Society and the Southern Watercolor Society. Since becoming the new Executive Director of the RAL Art Center in 2019 Doug has been a driving force for new changes, including a remodeling of the Pike Studio in the Gallery and numerous community outreach programs in the Kilmarnock area for both child and adult programs.