Julie Mader’s Exclusive Watercolor Kit to Celebrate Ridgway’s Bicentennial & Upcoming Youth Workshops

Ridgway was founded in 1824 by merchant and diplomat Jacob Ridgway. Originally staked to be developed more northward on Montmorenci, Ridgway settled on the banks of the Clarion River. In 2002, the federal government recognized Ridgway as “The Lily of the Valley” National Historic Register District. Being picturesque along the hillsides, it’s hard not to see why it’s referred to as such. 

Each summer, the Ridgway Fire Department holds their carnival celebration. Here, an old firefighter tradition takes place: the Battle of the Barrel, where firefighters play an inverse tug of war, seeing which department can hose a barrel to their opponent’s side. It’s one of the more memorable Ridgway traditions, keeping the community coming back year after year.

Julie has a number of other watercolor kit designs that are available on the PA Wilds Marketplace:

Hints for painting with watercolors:

• Rinse your brush with clean water between colors.
• Tap-off your brush on a paper towel. The brush can hold a surprising amount of moisture (especially when you don’t want it to).  Avoid a large dollop of color in a small space by lightly touching the tip to a paper towel before going to the paper. 
• Watercolor can be controlled by offering it a path to follow. It will find the tiniest amount of moisture and bloom into it (whether that is your intent or not).  To avoid blooms work on a non-adjacent dry area of the painting. Relax and embrace the process!