By Sarah Whitman
Senior Staff Writer
Lutz artist Joan Garcia remembers the smell of new crayons at Christmas time.
“I’ve always loved art,” Garcia said. “My grandma used to get me new paper, pencils and crayons every Christmas. I still love that smell.”
These days, Garcia uses oil paints to capture the beauty of Florida’s wildlife. She also paints with acrylics and is an accomplished color-pencil portrait artist.
“I am inspired by the light and the colors of Florida,” she said. “I love to paint nature, the birds and the fish, and the landscapes.”
Garcia has an art studio at her home, where she spends hours painting. She can spend weeks or months on one artwork. She recently painted a mural for a baby’s room featuring swimming manatees and pelicans. The work was created using acrylics on canvas.
“I started in January and finished in March,” she said. “I’d paint at night until one or two in the morning, with big studio lights all around.”
Garcia studied fashion design and illustration in Miami, but never went to work in the industry. She married her husband Al and had a son, Alex. Soon after Alex was born, she decided to pursue fine art as a profession.
“I started doing shows and murals,” she said. “It steamrolled from there. It’s been up and down, but I’ve done a lot through the years.”
Before the family moved to Tampa, they lived in Texas, Miami and Costa Rica. Garcia said, for an artist, Florida is definitely the best place to live.
“Even when I was living somewhere else, I could see something on TV and without anyone saying where it was, I’d know it was Florida because of the light,” she said. “It’s beautiful here.”
One of her favorite places to paint is Anna Maria Island.
“We have a beach house there and I love the environment,” she said. “I bring my paints and I capture the scenery.”
She said she loves the way the sunshine bounces off the blues and the greens.
“Since childhood, I’ve always been fascinated with color,” she said. Painting with oils is amazing because of the warmth and intensity of the colors.”
Garcia is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, Oil Painters of America and the North Tampa Arts League.
To learn more about artworks by Joan Garcia visit, www.jlgarcia-artist.com.
