Wee ‘Whiskey Paintings’ by Delhi’s Karen Graves

Featured in November Show at Delaware Pantry

A solo show of new wee-sized paintings by renown Delaware County watercolorist Karen Graves opens Nov. 2 at the Delaware Pantry.

The show features a new collection of 16 framed small paintings created by Graves since her induction last year into the Whiskey Painters of America, described as “a unique fellowship of watercolor, wit, whiskey and camaraderie.”

Her show runs each Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 2nd to 23rd at Delaware Pantry, a refurbished barn at 21780 State Highway 28, 4 miles east of Delhi. An opening reception, with refreshments and snacks, will be from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. The show’s inventory also includes a wide variety of various-sized prints and notecards drawn from the watercolors Graves has painted over her 30-year career.
The Whiskey Painters group was founded in Ohio in 1962 by Joe Ferriot, a traveling salesman and painting enthusiast who carried a tiny pallet in an aspirin tin. After business hours on the road, he would settle onto a barstool at a local saloon and create mini watercolors, wetting his brush with whiskey. He gifted the paintings to bartenders and fellow patrons—and rarely had to buy a drink.

Today, there are some 350 members of the by-invitation-only group, which sticks to Ferriot’s idea that the paintings should be no larger than 3.5 by 5.5 inches so they fit in your pocket or pocketbook.

“The smaller format gives me the freedom to explore a subject while spending as little as five hours on a painting, rather than my normal 40 to 50 hours for a large piece,” Graves says.

During the Nov. 2 reception, Graves will cue a toast by dipping her brush into a dram of Rock Valley Spirits whiskey of Long Eddy, N.Y., whose owner, Terry Milk, is a watercolorist and Whiskey Painters member. It was Milk, the current president of the group, who nominated Graves to join the organization.

Although Graves normally paints larger pieces, the subjects of her Whiskey Paintings will be familiar to those who follow her work. She is known for her realistic images of landscapes, bridges, barns and flowers from her native Catskill Mountains, scenes ingrained during a childhood in DeLancey. She credits her late mother, Mabel Worden Gutliph, a painter and sculptor herself, for inspiring her love of landscapes during nature walks in the hills near their home.

Her body of work is a testament to her deep connection with the Catskills, art critic Robert Brune recently wrote. “Her work not only captures the beauty of the Catskill Mountains but also invites viewers to share in her profound reverence for the natural world,” Brune wrote. “In a world that often moves at a frantic pace, Graves’ paintings offer a moment of quiet reflection, inviting us to pause, breathe, and immerse ourselves in the timeless beauty of the landscapes she so lovingly portrays.”

Graves, who studied art and ceramics at Buffalo State University, has earned accolades at local, regional and national shows. Her art has been exhibited at more than 20 venues, including both individual and group shows. Her wee paintings have been displayed and sold at two Whiskey Painters shows this year, in New Hampshire in May and in the group’s 43rd annual exhibition, which runs through Oct. 24 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

For more information, contact the Delaware Pantry at [email protected].