Summary

Anshu Priya has had great success on two different fronts lately: a broadly distributed newsletter features her art and she was selected for a competitive exhibit by the Arizona Watercolor Association.

Anshu Priya has had two big successes recently.  She was selected into the current Arizona Watercolor Association exhibit, and she is featured in a widely read newsletter that Changing Hands Bookstore shares with its clientele.  She is getting some wonderful exposure for her art in two very different venues!

Here is the story behind the painting in Anshu’s own words: “The Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe and I share a bit of history. We were both born in 1974! It is Arizona’s leading independent bookstore and sells new books, toys, games and other thoughtful gifts . But the sections I love to get lost in are the ones that have used books on sale. The serendipitous experience of chancing upon a gently used book that I’ve been wanting to read , or one that is dog – eared with purpose, is indeed special. I often wonder about how it made it to the store, the hands it changed along its journey, the stories that dwell in there.”

There is a wonderful final chapter to this story.  Anshu was invited to an event at which the owner of Changing Hands, Gayle Shanks, was the featured speaker.  Anshu brought her painting of Changing Hands with her.  At the close of Gayle’s speech on the journey that created this successful bookstore, Anshu gifted her the painting.  The pictures included here, one of Anshu and Gayle, and one including the president of PEN, Jan Thompson, indicate what a happy moment that was!

Anshu has also had great success on another front: being accepted in the recent Arizona Watercolor Association exhibit now on display at Shemer Art Gallery.  This is an excellently executed, very beautiful exhibit.  The jurying for this exhibit is tough – it’s a signal honor to get into the show.  Big shout out for jointing the accomplished watercolor community at this level!