Allison Watson is a local landscape painter. She also teaches basic painting at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.
PREFERRED MEDIUM
“Acrylics are faster. My work is spontaneous; it changes as I go along. It’s easier to do with a faster-drying paint and it’s very versatile. You can thin it down like watercolors or make it heavy like raised paint.”
WHEN DID YOU PICK UP A BRUSH?
“I’ve been painting all my life. My mother was a painter and introduced me to art. This is what I wanted to do since I was a child.”
LEAP OF FAITH
“All of my jobs have been associated with the arts. I was in illustration, visual merchandising, graphic arts and I worked for Sally Corporation as an art director just to support my art habit. I used to teach at JMOMA, too, before they moved.
“Ten years ago I quit my other jobs and devoted myself full-time to painting. I always wanted to do that but I was afraid to give up a paycheck.”
TRADE SECRETS
“Landscapes give softness to a room. Recently I have been producing giclée prints on canvas. I like to keep reproductions approximately the same size as originals.”
NATURE LOVER
“I do a lot of local stuff. My work focuses on North Florida and southern art. We’re surrounded by gorgeous things. I’m an environmentalist and an outdoor person, so it’s great to be able to paint what you love.”
THE BUSINESS OF ART
“What I do is a small business. I manage work, deal with dealers, get things framed. I even learned how to use a computer.”
WHO BUYS YOUR PIECES?
“I have a number of things in corporate collections and in the mayor’s office. I was the first artist to have a painting in his [the mayor’s] office. Some of my work is collected by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in [Washington,] D.C., Marriott Hotels, various law firms around town [such as Holland & Knight], First Union and BellSouth. I sell to private collectors as well.”
BORN
Jacksonville.
FAMILY
San Marco is home to Watson. She has two daughters, Laraine and Angela, and two grandsons.
WHAT IDEA ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVEY?
“You have to know about something to appreciate it. My message is to bring an awareness of the environment to people, especially the wetlands. I want to show how beautiful they are and that they’re worth saving.”
WHO WAS YOUR MAIN INFLUENCE?
“[Painter] Andrew Wyeth knocked my socks off. He painted New England. Artists are influenced by the time period they live in, geographic location, politics and their own emotions. His work has that dramatic gray look, and in the summertime, that filtered light.”
ON THE HORIZON
Watson’s work will be on display at the airport’s gallery June through August. She also has a new website, allisonwatson.com, which should be operational this week. Additionally, the mayor’s office will be holding a reception April 5 for area artists who have their work displayed there.
EDUCATION
“Basically I’m self-taught. It surprises people but a lot of the old masters were self-taught.”
WHAT IS MOST REWARDING?
“I love the work. I think how lucky I am to do what I enjoy. You’re doing for a living what some do for a hobby but it is extremely hard work. I love coming up with a good piece of work and the longer you do it, the better the work. I don’t make as much as I could doing something else but I’d rather be happy in my vocation.”
WHAT’S CHALLENGING ABOUT IT?
“Making enough money to live. Also, conducting business is not my natural talent. The challenge is knowing what direction to put my energy in. I have to pre-guess what people want to buy. I paint to please people. I have to be sure it’s appealing to the public because it needs to be sold.”
AFFILIATIONS
“I belong to all the art organizations and museums in town plus the Sierra Club.”
STARTING OUT
“You have to have name recognition. It’s hard for young people to come from scratch. It’s such a competitive business. I see their enthusiasm and I don’t want to tell them how hard it is.”
HOBBIES
A closet anthropologist, Watson is fascinated by the film “Quest for Fire.” Aside from the occasional medieval history, she doesn’t care much for novels — tuning into Animal Planet or Discovery Channel is more her style. She enjoys canoeing, kayaking, gardening and cooking. Occasionally, she takes a jog over the Main Street Bridge with her dog.
WHO DO YOU ADMIRE?
“Charles Darwin. I believe he changed the way we think about human beings.”
— by Monica Chamness