Michael P. Pitek III

As a self-trained artist, I've always painted on a start-and-stop basis.  In graduate school I used my watercolors while pursuing my M.F.A. in theatre direction.  After receiving my degree the paints were tucked away for a long time until I started gardening.  The flowers in my garden often inspired me to capture those beautiful works of Mother Nature.

I started again in earnest in the summer of 2015.   My oldest daughter, six months pregnant with her first child, asked me to paint a picture of two zebras.  I disappeared to my office and several hours later emerged with the completed watercolor.   My daughter planned on hanging this painting in her nursery.  That gave me the idea to create an animal nursery series and I was motivated to pick up the paints again!

When painting with watercolors I enjoy how the paint and water interact. I like to refer to this dynamic interaction as “watching the paint and water ‘play’!”  I love discovering the ‘happy accidents’ of watercolors.  The transparency of the medium also creates a wonderful luminous quality that intrigues me. 

I hope that when you view my work you can see that “playfulness” and “light” captured in my watercolors of nature, both its flora and its fauna.  Enjoy!