Nita Engle

Nita Engle (born 1926) is an American watercolor painter.

Biography

A Michigan native born in 1926, Engle attended the Art Institute of Chicago for four years with affiliated study at both Northern Michigan University and Roosevelt University. First employed as a colorist, she worked her way up the position of art director with a Chicago area ad agency. But watercolors were her passion, and before long she started the transition of becoming a full-time illustrator in watercolor for major publications. Some of her early work ranged from covers of Reader's Digest to illustrations in Playboy. Starting an art career in the 1940s was not easy, especially in a male-dominated field, so early on in her career she simply signed her work, "N. Engle" in order not to disclose her gender. As time passed, so did the acceptance of women artists and her work flourished.

A member of the American Watercolor Society since 1969, she has been a frequent exhibitor, winning many awards. She has also taken part in many exhibitions sponsored by the Society of Illustrators in New York including an exhibit of American illustrators along with the work of Winslow Homer, N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell, entitled "1976 - 200 Years of American Illustration." American Artist magazine named her "Artist of the Year" in 1984 and in 1985, a PBS documentary film of her work titled entitle Wilderness Palette - Nita Engle in Michigan was made by KAKM in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1986 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Northern Michigan University and selected as one of only 40 artists selected to exhibit with Australian artists in Taipei. Engle has also taken part in the annual Great Women Artists of America Show held in Chicago.

The North Country of Michigan, presents a continual challenge to Engle, who feels that one lifetime is not enough to accomplish all she hopes to achieve. "There is so little wilderness left; we are surrounded by pavement. My goal is to take you into the landscape through my painting".

Engle's art can be seen in many books and publications, including her own book entitled How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself - Experimental Techniques Towards Realism in Landscape, published by Watson-Guptill. She has also made tutorial videos that demonstrate her innovative techniques.

She still lives in her native Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she continues to paint.

References

External links

• http://www.nita-engle.com/
• http://www.millpond.com/site/artistbio.cfm?DocumentID=39
• http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=100207

Persondata
Name	Engle, Nita
Alternative names
Short description	watercolor landscape artists
Date of birth	1926
Place of birth	Michigan
Date of death
Place of death