Featured Artist Linnea Pergola

Artist Linnea Pergola transforms her global travels into whimsical nature-inspired watercolor and ink compositions. Discover more on her website.

 

 

I have been involved in the arts since I was a young child growing up in Encino, California. I began my career with an art publisher, Martin Lawrence Galleries, in the 1980s.

 

 

I started out painting city scenes and got my inspiration from all my travels. My love of travel and art is really a blending of my true self. There is nothing more exciting for me than to explore a new city and take photos and sketch.

 

 

When I lived near New York City I was always taking photos and doing paintings of the city. So much inspiration everywhere.

 

 

I’ve lived in many interesting places, including France, where I fell in love with all the small villages as well as Paris. I now live in South Africa and it literally explodes with inspiration. I live on the Indian Ocean and am surrounded by animals, nature and amazing people and cultures so different from my past. We just bought a thatched house in a town called Plettenberg Bay.

 

 

I paint mostly in watercolors and ink, where I really get into detailed work. The subjects range from cities to animals. A lot of my new work is inspired by my life in South Africa now.

 

 

I’ve been on two safaris and took so many photos. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. We recently purchased an old Land Rover and plan on exploring more hard to get places in South Africa and neighboring countries.

 

 

My technique with watercolors is maybe different from some other traditional watercolorists. I keep it pretty precise and controlled and then outline most of the work with pen and ink. I also tend to be more surrealist in my approach.

 

 

I don’t really paint what I see. I invent scenes and when I paint cities, I completely rearrange them but you can always tell what city it is.

 

 

I want to keep being active as a painter and would love to find more time to get back into Urban Sketching. It’s an international group of sketchers and the only requirement is you must paint from real life and not use photography. Also, I want to explore more mediums in depth, for instance working with encaustics and pastels.

 

Linnea Pergola invites you to follow on Instagram.

 

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