Pat Holscher really doesn’t need to sign her paintings. Her signature is obvious in watercolors that bleed; in watery light and shadow that turn a white piece of paper into a moving, breathing world of color.

Among Beaufort County artists and art lovers, her work is certainly well known, her distinct style a staple at the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center and among the work juried into Beaufort County Arts Council’s Fine Arts Show, year after year.

But her renown on a national level continues to grow.

The list of achievements is seemingly endless: this year alone, Holscher’s paintings were juried into the America Watercolor Society’s 146^th International Exhibition in New York City; in the World of Watercolor 4^th Annual Signature American Watermedia Exhibition in Fallbrook, N.Y.; in the Southern Watercolor Society’s Annual Exhibition in Quincy, Fla., in the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors in Old Forge, N.Y., the Kentucky Watercolor Society’s 2014 Aqueous Exhibition in Louisville; the Watercolor Society of North Carolina’s 69^th annual exhibition. Her paintings won awards in many of them. From 7,500 pieces entered, Holscher’s work was selected as a finalist in “The Artist’s Magazine” 31^st annual art competition — a very high honor that will get recognition in the December issue of the national magazine.

The recognition is appreciated, Holscher said, but it also serves as a continuing motivation.

“You know what? It’s like every competition is like starting over again. And you’re running the risk, over and over and over again,” Hoslcher said. “If you don’t get anything in, you feel the same sense of failure. But when you do get something in, it’s just as nice. … It kind of revalidates you.”

While Holscher’s renown continues to grow with every show, so does she, as an artist.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t paint, because it’s such an essential part of my life. One of things that keeps me going is these shows — it challenges me,” Holscher said. “I could sit in this studio and paint 50 million paintings and stick them in a corner somewhere, but that would get old after a while. It’s the competition that provides the impetus to keep going.”

Holscher spends hours, days on end, in her studio, creating. With the exception of complete immersion into art and artists at week-long workshops held at Springmaid in Myrtle Beach and the like, it’s a lonely business, but one she feels is imperative to the process: being alone, being able to experiment, being able to fail, or succeed, spectacularly.

“You’re not going to take risks if you think there are people who are going to come in there and look over your shoulder,” Holscher said. “The risks you take are when nobody’s looking.”

But the sheer number of awards received and paintings accepted into national shows belie that idea that nobody’s looking — on the contrary, it would seem everyone’s looking at Holscher’s unique view of the world a painting at a time.