About

Gloria Tseng Fischer has always been drawn to the medium of watercolor. Returning to it while practicing architecture and raising her family, she recalled the feel of the brush stroke during her childhood calligraphy lessons. It is this attentiveness to the relationship between brush, water, and paper that defines her work, which has been described as classical and yet contemporary.

She employs a technique of “visual editing”, a practice she developed as an architect, in which she strategically uses the paper itself as part of the composition. By revealing the white of the paper, particularly in the highlights, she repositions it as an active participant in the painting.

Her process rarely involves preliminary pencil sketches. Instead, she paints directly on hot press paper. The smooth surface allows water blotches and stains to emerge, creating textures rendered through dark, light, and washy tones. This approach results in works that are explosively loose yet deliberately guided. It is this sensitivity to how pigment settles, spreads, and dries that gives her work a distinctive naturalist, rather than realistic, character.

Awards

A Hard Day’s Work (2023): Honorable Mention: Potomac Valley Watercolorists Annual Fall Show and Sale 2025

Field of Gold (2023) Second Place: Capitol Hill Art League: “Flora + Fauna” Member Show 2025

Golden Juice (2025) Honorable Mention: Potomac Valley Watercolorists: “The Painted Garden” Exhibition 2025

Lane (2024) Honorable Mention: Maryland Federation of Art and The Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University’s Interwoven Worlds Exhibition 2025

Splendor in Autumn (2024) Finalist: Artists Magazine & American Artist’s Splash 26 (The Best of Watercolor) Summer 2025 issue

Lace (2024) Third Place: Baltimore Watercolor Society Signature Member Exhibition: Bernice Kish Gallery at Slayton House 2025

Onion V (2021) Honorable Mention: Maryland Federation of Art’s Food for Thought 2024

Apple Story (2023) Memorial Award in Honor of Jung Lea Smith: Potomac Valley Watercolorists: Green Springs Gardens “Art in Bloom” Exhibition 2023

Coffee in Zimbabwe (2023) Merit Award: Laurel Art Guild 54th (2023) Annual Open Juried Exhibition

White Onions (2022) Third Place: Maryland Federation of Art: Food for Thought 2022

Spent Valentine (2020) Honorable Mention: Potomac Valley Watercolorists: Green Springs Gardens “Emergence” Exhibition 2022

Oranges for J Albers (2020) Honorable Mention: Baltimore Watercolor Society Signature Member Exhibition: Strathmore Mansion 2021

End of a Workday (2018) Pennsylvania Watercolor Society Award:  Baltimore Watercolor Society Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibition 2018

Van Gogh Sunflowers (2016) Second Place: Still Life in Montgomery Art Association: Creative Expressions 2018

Boy (2017) Second Place: Portrait in Montgomery Art Association: Creative Expressions 2017

Iris (2014) First Place: Still Life in Montgomery Art Association: Creative Expressions 2015

Girl (2015) Honorable Mention: Portrait in Montgomery Art Association: Creative Expressions 2015

Leek, Onions, & Garlic (2014) First Place: Still Life in Montgomery Art Association: Creative Expressions 2014

Beets (2013) Honorable Mention: Culinary Art Show at Friendship Heights Village 2013

Sunflowers (2013) Honorable Mention: Still Life in Montgomery Art Association: Creative Expressions 2013

Organization

Baltimore Watercolor Society, Water-medium Master: 2025 - Present; Signature Member: 2017 - 2025

Potomac Valley Watercolorists, Member: 2019 - Present

Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Member: 2024 - Present

Philadelphia Watercolor Society, Associate Member: 2024 - Present

Capitol Hill Art League, Member: 2024 - Present

Maryland Federation of Art, Member: 2017 - Present

Montgomery Art Association, Member: 2012 - 2025

Takoma Artery, Member: 2024-2025

City of Takoma Park, Arts & Humanities Commission, Board Member: 2017 - 2021 (Vice Chair 2020-2021)

Arts on the Block, Board Member: 2011 - 2015