In 1986, when retirement is on most people’s minds, Mrs. Vandemark life travels took another direction. She founded The Lima Area Watercolor Society. “I recall our first meeting. Don Getz, now then president of the Ohio Watercolor Society was our first demonstrator. We had nearly 175 people in attendance. When I look back, I could only imagine an outcome from one month to the next,” said Annabelle. Over the years, the watercolor society has attracted many artists well-known nationally and internationally to conduct their workshops, such as, Tom Lynch, Tony Couch, Nita Leland, and an extensive long line of others besides Karen Benedetti, David Cordas, Pat Rayman, Sharon Stolzenberger, who have been recognized for their unique talents in the region.  Although today the organization membership is not as large as in the beginning, its central purpose has not changed: “the promotion and support of high standards of watercolor painting in the Lima area.”

     Vandemark’s own paintings have won countless to awards and hang in churches, schools, law and medical offices, hospitals, museums, city buildings, banks, private homes as well as foreign countries. The artist’s watercolors of rustic countryside landscapes are more than a reflection of her youthful years during a once harsh period of life. The viewers bring the subjects to life – they are drawn within – following one or several life forms stroll up a country lane. Annabelle continues to surround the viewers with the mood of the scene that reveals an abundance of nature’s beauty, being, splashes of color with a range from subtle to striking, and casts of sunlight streaming through dominant towering trees. Her use of shades of blues and grays enable the viewer the feel of the outside temperature.

     At 89, Annabelle Ross Vandemark said, “I strive to be as active as I can in my own work, LAWS and various other art organizations,” however she has come to realize of all her teachers, regardless of her late introduction to the art world, she believes, “When I think about it, my father was a painter, but he used soil and seeds.”