Nancy A. Kirst
Artist Biography
I have been an aspiring artist since learning to hold a crayon. I loved to draw and the margins of my grade school papers were always full of fancy doodles. As an adult, I began taking drawing classes about thirty-five years ago when my children were small. My interest was redirected to watercolor when drawing was unavailable one semester. Taking a painting class I didn’t really want changed the trajectory of my life. I still draw occasionally, but watercolor is my main focus and joy.
I have taken many watercolor classes through the years. Bob Witte, Joseph Fettingis, Pamela Wenger, Ted Nuttall and Joye Moon have been the most influential. I am a member of the Oshkosh Fine Arts Association, where a network of artist friends encourages me to grow and be involved in the art community. I have recently started doing some commission work. Over the years, I have taught watercolor for Moraine Park, been a volunteer Art teacher at Faith Lutheran School, and done watercolor presentations for High School art students and various local groups. My work has been invited to the Transparent Watercolor Society annual show, Watercolor Wisconsin, Richeson’s International Portrait and Figure Show, and other local exhibits.
Artist Statement
In over thirty years of watercolor play, I have discovered a few things. I love painting people and the challenge of getting a good likeness. Choosing an interesting photograph that tells a story or catches a certain expression, looking for interplay between light and shadow, and always pursuing ways to inject unexpected, but delightful color into skin and hair are my focus. I also enjoy painting close-ups of flowers. They have a gentleness of form, like faces, that ask to be rendered in a sensitive way.
I feel blessed to be able to create. A white piece of paper is so intimidating when you are about to begin, and the finished piece often fails to meet the expectations you have for it. Art is hard work and constant problem-solving, but, when it all comes together, life is so good. I am grateful that God has used art to add such richness to my life.
nkirst@yahoo.com / instagram.com/nancykirst / facebook.com/p/Nancy-Kirst-Watercolor