Meet the Board

Meet Tina Schwartzman, a relatively new Board member and Watermedia Chair. A self-taught artist, Tina enjoys learning in workshops and with art instruction books. Tina loves reading about medias; techniques; theories of composition, design, and color; and about other artists. Her work can be seen in Second Thought’s annual show in Missoula.

Through experimentation with techniques, tools, and materials, Tina has become a “direct” painter—seldom working back into paintings after her initial brushstrokes. While painting, she deliberately creates a rhythm with her brush, saying something with each stroke. Her favorite subject matter is buildings, especially those with hand-lettered advertisements or signs from the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.  

For years, Tina worked only on 140# Arches rough. Now she experiments with 140# Lanaquarell cold press and 140# Arches hot press. Sumi brushes hold a certain fascination, as they carry a lot of ink and work from thick to thin lines so nicely. Her favorite colors are bold: black, white, blue. purple, red, yellow, and green. She grew up with a love of coloring, drawn by the smell of 64 Crayola Crayons and Pentel colored markers. Now she loves the smell of watercolor pigments when she first takes the lid off the palette. For her, the senses and color are highly emotional. She enjoys using chisel flats and pointed rounds and drawing with needle-nose bottles of ink.

    Tina enjoys artists’ biographies, instructional books, and using the internet for research. Christopher Schinck’s workshop was her favorite, as it was her first. For years, she was interested in Van Gogh and Picasso and then Georgia O’Keefe.  At the moment, Tina’s favorite book is Arthur Dow’s Composition.

    Currently, Tina is exploring Japanese woodblock prints, attracted to the flat pattern designs. She is inspired by other artists’ work but says volunteering as an Odyssey of the Mind coach really changed her approach to creativity, giving her a sense that every problem has several solutions.

    To Tina, creativity is a lifelong process. She believes that artists should never stop learning or trying new things.

See Tina's NoTan Project

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