In the News…

Rediscovering the color of life: Tallahassee artist goes wild with watercolor

By Christy Rodriguez de Conte, Council on Culture & Arts

Published in the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper 9-3-2022

Hidden under the canopies of Tallahassee, a collective of community artists gather to celebrate one major unifying trait — their love for watercolors.

The Tallahassee Watercolor Society (TaWS) originated in the 1980s as a regional water media organization, and it has since continued to offer monthly classes and workshops aimed at providing its members with quality support and art education.

Throughout September, TaWS highlights the work of its members in one of two annual events, the Brush Strokes Member’s Exhibition at City Hall, which opens Sept. 7. 

"I’ve gained a lot of great friends who share a love of watercolor," says Marty Holland, a full-time member, and part-time volunteer. "I've learned a lot of techniques. You know I’ve been doing this for my whole life, doing art, and I learn new things every time we go to the meetings … You gain (knowledge) and you gain some real friends. It’s a good warm group of people with like-minded interests.”

FROM GRAPHIC DESIGN TO WATERCOLOR

A seventh-generation native Floridian, Holland grew up in Chiefland and made his move to Tallahassee to attend Lincoln High School. He is at home amongst artists and has been since a young age. His father was a painter and the editor of their family-run newspaper.

Holland recalls his earliest works, “I’ve always doodled and drawn… I started with a pencil. Growing up I was drawing comic book stuff and army stuff … [My Dad] always did oils and later on, he did acrylics. I was not one to get in the competition, so I stayed away from that and I mainly focused on pen and ink.”

Holland says he never thought that he’d become a commercial art graphics designer. He confesses that he decided to get an associate’s degree in art from Tallahassee Community College because it was easy, but soon transferred to Florida State University and changed his focus to political science and history.

That change landed him at the Department of Revenue as an illustrator. A larger shift came in the mid-1990s when art started to be digitized.

Holland recalls the shift in mediums and the subsequent artistic fallout, “When I started, we did everything by hand and shot with stat cameras, and then you do some separation. All color work. You did four drawings of everything … In the '90s, we switched over from doing it the old-school way to doing it on computers. We started using stock art. I didn’t draw all these things. They wanted photography.” 

'IT HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN'

Holland discovered it had been 16 years since he had drawn anything, and to him, that was unacceptable.

It was not until his father’s death that Holland’s mother suggested he rediscover his love for painting and drawing. He began attending classes with the Tallahassee Watercolor Society and began to notice significant growth. “The more I did it, the better my artwork,” says Holland.

Holland’s work is based on nature and a deep love for the coast, featuring signature figures like coastal birds, fishing boats, and colorful landscapes. He agrees that watercolors help to bring out elements that speak to the fluidity of colors and textures found in nature.

“I think watercolor, because of the nature, you really don’t know what you are going to get. You don’t really control it 100%. It has a mind of its own, kind of like animals. You can try and tame it, but it’s still kind of wild. It offers a little freedom.” 

COLORS OF THE COAST

In the past few years, Holland has found more freedom in his artwork. He finds comfort and inspiration in colors found along the coast. “When you go down to the coast, you see the light coming off the water … I can’t duplicate that, not very well. But I try, and I like adding a splash of color,” says Holland. 

Holland credits TaWS for the growth of his work, like his Brush Strokes submission "A Crowded House," a watercolor painting of two egrets fleeing an already crowded tree.

He is sure his experience with this organization will help to expand both his abilities as an artist, as well as his freedom to be more abstract.

Yet, Holland knows true artistic growth is not an individual act and is forever grateful for the group of like-minded artists he has found at the Tallahassee Watercolor Society.

ARTIST BEHIND THE ARTWORK (2020)

With the renovation of 412 Knott completed last summer, in the fall we received feedback from many people that artwork would be a nice addition to the back wall.

President Simpson asked Chair Passidomo to head up the effort to identify a theme and artist. We had to look no further than our own Marty Holland, who heads up the Senate Office of Multimedia Communications and Instructional Design.

Marty had created an impressive Multimedia unit at AHCA many years ago which coordinated graphics, printing, and other resources for many state agencies. We were successful in getting him to agree to come to the Senate when President Galvano decided to create Multimedia as an independent office within the Senate three years ago.  In addition to being a dedicated career-long state employee, Marty is an extremely talented artist. He specializes in watercolor and his work has been featured in many local galleries.

Working with Chair Passidomo and Senate Chief of Staff Kathy Mears, Marty came up with three different themes for the project. He pursued the art deco theme that was ultimately chosen because it complements the original architecture of the Knott Building as well as the more traditional elements of the renovation that occurred last summer.

Chair Passidomo selected from about ten different cityscapes that Marty developed, combining certain features and adding various elements with the goal of representing every region of our great state.

Tourism represented by the theme parks that bring in visitors from across the country and around the world, Rural Florida with small towns, canopy roads, horse farms and beautiful live oak trees, Urban Florida with large diverse coastal cities like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and others. Beautiful beaches and beach communities with large condos, small beach cottages and historic light houses, Florida’s heartland agricultural lands that produce our world-famous citrus products, and finally our rich history and boundless future as the home of the space program.