The Gallery @ Barr Photographics is excited to announce the holiday installment for the 2025 feature artist exhibition schedule, on the Columns Gallery, at 203 W. Main St. in Abingdon, VA. with the return of award winning, internationally published watercolorist Alexis Lavine AWS, NWS, with a collection of totally unframed original watercolor creations titled “Frame of Mind”.

Alexis’ work was last seen in The Gallery in 2011; then began her meteoric rise in the watercolor world. Alexis has garnered top achievement awards in numerous, prestigious, national competitions and invitational exhibits, acquiring quite the reputation as a master in her field, along with the critical acclaim that follows an artist of her stature. Most recently, Alexis’ awards include: 2025: Awarded First Prize and Gold Medallion, Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors; 2025: Awarded First Prize, Illinois Watercolor Society National Exhibition; 2024: Awarded Signature Membership, American Watercolor Society. The full list of awards is too voluminous for this release as it covers several pages. As credentials are amassed,  Alexis’ most prestigious affiliations include Signature Membership in the following organizations: American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Watercolor USA Honor Society, Transparent Watercolor Society of America, Watercolor West, North East Watercolor Society, Southern Watercolor Society, Watercolor Society of NC, Baltimore Watercolor Society and the Piedmont Outdoor Painting Society accompanied by others, also too numerous to mention.

In her biographical sketch Alexis reveals, “My formal art training began at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where I earned a Master’s Degree in Medical and Biological Illustration in its’ acclaimed Art as Applied to Medicine program. After graduation I worked as a medical illustrator for several years and then found myself living in the beautiful, isolated mountains of western Maryland, too far away from a medical school or a medical publisher to practice my trade.  So I picked up my paint brushes and started painting the magnificent landscapes that surrounded me and haven’t looked back. I began my painting career  ”en plein air” but I now pursue my images painting in the studio, although I do occasionally paint “en plein aire”. Also recognizing the importance of education, I am an enthusiastic art instructor, who teaches painting, drawing classes and workshops and have done so since early in my career. Since 2020, I have switched to zoom classes, and discovered that I love to teach online. I have students from all over the United States and overseas, I enjoy the diversity this platform provides. I love to communicate about art, sharing my experience and knowledge, while helping my students achieve greater artistic success. Reminiscing about long past college days, Alexis imparts this jewel of wisdom: “At that time in the beginning, I drew and painted people, from the inside only. Many years later, I have developed a passion, once again, for painting people, but now, from the outside, looking inward, to create interesting stories about them for my viewers.” Contact The Gallery if interested in classes!

In her artist statement Alexis states, “Making art is an essential and defining part of who I am and how I live. I see so much that intrigues me, and I am endlessly challenged to paint what I see and how I feel. I choose watercolor for its versatility, power, luminosity, and the challenge of making it behave!”  Further expounding on the values she strives for in her work, she explains: “Firstly, Well crafted and accurate drawing with an expressive and dynamic design executed in clean, powerful transparent watercolor imparting a bit of mystery, to draw my viewer into a painterly communicated story-telling image.  Regardless of subject, every painting has a strong underpinning of abstract design, which creates a foundation for the creation of the paintings which are produced using professional quality pigments and substrates.”

“Frame of Mind” will be celebrated with a holiday gala reception and art talk, by Alexis Lavine, to which the public is cordially invited, on Saturday, 13 December from 2 - 4:00 PM in The Gallery @ Barr Photographics, 203 W. Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia. “Frame of Mind” will hang, and be offered for sale, through 30, January 2026, don’t miss this opportunity to meet and purchase art from an internationally famous, critically acclaimed artist!!