My work reflects my fascination with the effects of sunlight on rural and city life - portraying moments of dramatic light with heightened color and contrast.

Born in Florence, South Carolina, Margaret Kranking has been a resident of Washington, D.C. most of her life. She majored in fine arts at the American University, graduating summa cum laude and named a Clendenin Fellow in Art History.

Capturing the quality of light is the motivating force behind the paintings of Margaret Kranking. For this result, she has chosen the medium of watercolor for it's vibrancy and spontaneity. An enthusiastic outdoor painter, she has traveled the coast from Campobello Island, New Brunswick, to the Carolinas, as well as the terrain of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Some of her favorite places to paint are Georgetown, Charleston, Oxford and Annapolis. Trips to these places result in a series of paintings reflecting the personality of that region.

Her work reflects her fascination with the effects of sunlight on daily life -- in rural or city scenes, or in intimate interior views. As the sun moves on it's course, it strikes areas with moments of dramatic light -- moments she seeks to portray with heightened effects of color and contrast.

Margaret's professional credits include listings in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who of American Women. She now has her work in collections throughout the world including Philip Morris, Marriot Corporation, Comsat, McDonald's Corporation, Bell Atlantic, Bel South, Texaco and MCI Telecommunications. She is an official United States Coast Guard Artist. She is published in a number of books and magazines, including: American Artist and North Light.

Margaret Kranking was recently honored with a major exhibit of her paintings at the United Nations in New York City.

Juried Professional Signature Memberships: American Watercolor Society, Alabama, Baltimore, Georgia, Houston, Kentucky, Midwest, National, Southern, Southwestern, Washington, and Western Colorado Watercolor Societies; Potomac Valley Watercolorists (President 1981-83); Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, Washington Society of Landscape Painters.

Exhibitions include:

• One-Person, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, North Lobby Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland
• The Florence Museum, South Carolina, A Retrospective
• The Washington County Museum, Maryland
• Bell Grove Plantation, Middletown, Virginia
• Academy Museum, Easton, Maryland
• Juried Exhibitions:
  • United States Coast Guard Collection, Women in Military Service for America Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia
  • Washington Water Color Association, Vienna Arts, Center, Vienna, Virginia - First Place
  • Baltimore Watercolor Society 2007 Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibition, Strathmore Hall, Bethesda, Maryland
  • Women in the Arts Invitational, Strathmore Hall, Bethesda, Maryland
  • All in the Family, A Juried Exhibition of American University Alumni, AU Museum at The Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington, DC

Bibliography include:

• Christine Unwin. "The Artistic Touch I, II and III". Creative Art Press, 1995, 1999.
• Charles Sullivan. "Numbers at Play". Rizzoli.
• Carl Schmalz. "Finding and Improving Your Painting Style". Watson-Guptill. 1986.
• Mary Ann Beckwith. "Creative Watercolor". Rockport Publisher, 1995.
• Phil Metzger. "The North Light Artist's Guide to Materials & Techniques". 1996
• "The Watercolor Page". American Artist Magazine, May 1998.
• Ginny Baier. "The Color Gray". Watercolor 91, Spring Issue.
• Ginny Baiser. "The Color White". Watercolor 95, Fall Issue.
• North Light Magazine, July 1990 and March 1997.
• "Color". An American Artist Publication, 1999.
• "The Best of Watercolor, Vol. 3". Rockport Publishers, Inc. 1999.

Collections include:

• Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC
• Florence Museum, Florence, SC
• Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC
• National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD
• Sibley Memorial Hospital, Washington, DC
• United States Coast Guard Art Collection, New York, NY
• University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
• Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US, Washington, DC
• Wall Street Journal, Washington, DC
• Willard Hotel, Washington, DC
• Washington Hilton, Washington, DC

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