FCAA PRESENTS: A Talk with Paul Tooley
Talk Topic: My Creative Journey
Local watercolorist Paul Tooley will chronicle his journey as an artist and evolution into a serious watercolor painter over the last several decades while balancing his scientific career, family, and musical interests. He will characterize the influences that have inspired him to create his art and attempt to enhance his intuitive grasp of the intangible elements that make great paintings. In addition, he will describe his current approach to creating loose, expressive watercolors.
Paul Tooley began drawing and painting as a child growing up in Scarsdale, NY and was mentored by New York artist James N. Rosenberg, known for his Adirondack Mountain oil landscapes and famous lithographs such as ‘Dies Irae’ depicting the great Wall St. collapse. Paul has been a serious artist while also pursuing a scientific career as a research plant pathologist at Fort Detrick from 1985 to 2019. He works in watercolor because of its spontaneity, freshness, and uniqueness, allowing effects possible with no other medium. Paul paints a variety of subjects in a loose and expressive manner, attempting to captivate the viewer and distill the essence of the subject. Painting brings him joy, and one goal is to give the viewer some of the emotions and excitement that he felt in creating the painting. He is a signature member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, and a life member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and has had exhibits in Frederick at the Blue Elephant Art Center, the Griffin Art Center, Frederick Community College, the Yellow Barn Gallery, and the Gaithersburg Arts Barn Gallery. He was juried into ‘Easels in Frederick’ in 2016 and won awards in the Quickdraw competition three years in a row. He and fellow artist Craig Cavin currently share an art studio at 6 W. 5th St., Frederick, MD in the Griffin Art Center. See www.paultooley.com for more.
