Judy Lavoie

As a new milestone in my life as a fine artist, I have earned the status of a lifelong member of The Whiskey Painters of America. May sound silly, but this is an exclusive art group with a list of requirements for membership and unique guidelines for the creation of miniature watercolor paintings with alcoholic spirits to dilute the colors. Since I first heard about this organization many years ago I was intrigued. A few months ago I did some … Read More

I am blessed to be able to use my artistic abilities to make others happy, especially in the holiday season. I’m not in favor of the over-emphasis of the material side of gift-giving, but I’ve always tried to make gifts from my heart to better reflect the holiday spirit. For our recent Christmas season I created artwork “Cedar Waxwing” for my greeting card (as I have done for decades), I painted two surprise pet portraits, I hand-painted glass ornaments, and … Read More

I’ve been busy painting, exploring a peculiar new twist on watercolors… I am using whiskey in place of water! I call these artworks whiskey-colors. This is not my unique idea; it is a technique heralded and practiced by an art group called the Whiskey Painters of America. More about that organization below – let’s get onto the fun part. Shown here are my series of six whiskey-color paintings. I painted each to represent the name of a popular cocktail made … Read More

I am proud to share my latest art show news. First, my scratchboard “I Love A Challenge” is an award-winner in the 14th Annual Exhibition of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA). My still-life of favorite game pieces won the Ampersand Award for the Active Member Division. Forty-two artists from around the world are represented with 60 outstanding scratchboard paintings. This year’s show takes place through November 15, 2025, at the Page-Walker Arts & History Museum, Cary, NC. The … Read More

Have you ever heard that scratchboards are unforgiving and mistakes can’t be fixed? Forget those rumors, I’ve proven this is not true (fortunately)! This project began three years ago, when I took a one-day workshop focused on setting up still life arrangements as references for paintings. The class was presented by my dear friend and gifted trompe l’oeil artist Laurie, who is also a terrific art instructor. When each student was ready to create an arrangement, Laurie provided different sized … Read More

My colorful watercolor “Puppy Love” is a winner again, just chosen as 1st Place in the Community Artists League 2025 Open Show in Athens TN. The painting was selected from 84 artworks in all media, submitted by 32 artists. The juror weighed overall composition, contrast, use of medium, proportion, and other design criteria in chosing the award winner. The show is beautifully displayed at the Living Heritage Museum, Athens TN, through May 29th, 2025. “Puppy Love” was also recently one … Read More

“Mindfulness” has been a buzzword in recent years, describing a therapeutic technique for reducing stress and anxiety. My desktop dictionary defines it as “…a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations…” When I read a simpler explanation elsewhere – that mindfulness is achieved when you stop worrying about yesterday and tomorrow and focus your senses on what you are doing at the present moment – … Read More

I’ve been having a terrific time creating small scratchboard artwork, while also exploring subjects new to me. Each of these four new scratchboards is just 3”x5”, the size of an index card. The beauty of scratchboards, and one of the reasons I love creating art on them, is the ability to render very fine details – even at a small size. This characteristic is what draws viewers to my scratchboard paintings, always curious how such precision and exactness is achieved … Read More

“Perfectionist” has again brought me honors. I am excited to announce that I have won a top award in the highly regarded Oak Ridge (TN) Open Show 2024. My scratchboard received the “Two-Dimensional Award of Merit” (which is 2nd place after Best of Show). The juror, David Underwood, said this about my work: “The detail and accurate rendition of the subject in this piece is exquisite. This piece is evidence of great drawing skill along with expertise of the chosen … Read More

A walk through my friend Lil’s gorgeous gardens inspired my newest scratchboard “Summer Hummer.” I had been pondering a suitable painting subject to use some new metallic watercolors. A male ruby-throated hummingbird seemed perfect, with his sparkling emerald crown and red throat. I could paint our summer visitor as if he were hovering in front of a flower to sip nectar; Lil’s brilliant red tubular flowers of “Crocosmia Lucifer” (native to South Africa) gave me the ideal floral reference. A … Read More