A reader most of her life, Joanne Swanson, now 48, taught herself to paint in watercolor. It began with a desire to present her husband, Chip, a gift on Christmas Day in 1993. Watercolor was
chosen for its many challenges.
"People have said my paintings are full of color, full of joy of life. Because I simply love to paint I can get lost in painting. I continually challenge myself to apply what I have read and like to push myself to be a better
painter."
She graduated from Unalakleet’s Covenant High School in 1971 having never taken an art class. She entered college but soon quit. She later gained self-confidence through her marriage to Lee Eckels, a Ryan Air pilot.
She never even picked up a paintbrush until six years ago. Now her original works and prints are sold in galleries.
Nicole Suzanne Stahl
The works of accomplished artist, Nicole Suzanne Stahl, represent a deep appreciation for life and a passionate curiosity about the intricacies of the living ocean. Through her work, Nicole strives to convey her inspiration and enlightenment over the handiwork of the Designer and Creator of all living things, which is better than any other.
Nicole's artistic career began in childhood. As a girl, she loved to spend time experimenting with watercolor painting as well as pencil and chalk drawings. It was evident, at an early age, that Nicole possessed a gift for expressing her heart through her hands.
In 1993, Nicole was commissioned to paint a wall mural for a child's playroom. From the moment the paint touched the wall, she knew she had found her passion as an artist. "It was pure fun … working on a large scale, smoothing the paint onto the wall and creating different textures with my hands and brushes was joy."
That first mural merged Nicole's graphics company into a full-time commercial and residential mural career. For more than four years, she painted large, exquisitely detailed wall murals in private residences, hospitals, city offices and shopping malls. Her work was gaining recognition and her word-of-mouth business was growing faster than she had ever anticipated.
Today, Nicole specializes exclusively in large-scale canvas work. Her signature designs depict mesmerizing oceanic scenes. Nicole's combination of great luminosity and extraordinary detail are reflected not only in the underwater creatures themselves, but on every inch of the canvas. No area of a painting is wasted. Each brushstroke makes it's contribution to the whole through precise placement, and vibrant color.
"My hope is that when you view my work, it causes you, for a moment, to just be still … to focus on the sacredness of life. Perhaps it will even trigger, in you, wonder for the One who so thoughtfully designed, and lovingly created, our world," says Stahl. "The earth is teeming with life abundant, and while we are here, we must enjoy it fully and protect it carefully, as those who have been given an invaluable and precious gem."
‘I began this semi-abstract painting with a desire to do an abstract. I love mixing complementary colors wet-in-wet. I often will spend whole painting sessions just mixing colors. For the background I set the paper on the floor and dropped masking fluid somewhat randomly. Then I spattered, gold gessoed, salted, waxed, scraped and tilted the paint on the paper. After all that dried I turned the paper on its sides, up-side-down and "found" a right side up. Eventually I saw a lady wearing a beautiful parka doing something. That something was untangling Christmas lights oblivious to everything else around her. Using my daughter as inspiration a carefully added a little girl in a matching parka waiting impatiently to put up the star. The next wonderful challenge was when to quit. As always, hopefully, this is my favorite painting so far.’
