NICK KUNTZ

The Story

Nick lives in Dallas and has been painting a long time for his own amusement and his family’s.  With retirement from his law practice, he has more time to enjoy contact sport of watercolor painting.  

Nick’s mother was a painter, oils.  So, painting has always been a part of his life.  His mother explained to him early on, “Painting is a little like golf....the fewer strokes the better.”

He started with watercolors when he and his three growing boys began hunting together.  Duck blinds made for a good quiet time to focus on the scenery. His interest in what watercolors could do to landscapes began.   The interest in the outdoors, landscapes and plein air painting started in duck blinds, on Boy Scout hiking trails and on deer leases.  It has continued with trips from the coast of Main to the Big Sur.

A different emphasis came with a class at SMU from John Chen in Zen Painting, a Christmas gift from Nick’s son William.  Rice paper, black ink and bamboo brushes became the center of attention.   The order of the day became fewer strokes, simplification and an attempt to paint what the subject really was, not necessarily what the subject looked like.

The emphasis shifted back to watercolor after classes with Naomi Brotherton, a nationally known painter and a pillar of the watercolor scene in the southwest.  Naomi’s painting was a revelation.  Planning and simplification were hallmarks.  At her suggestion Nick joined the Southwestern Watercolor Society and he has been busy at watercolors ever since.   

He has participated in multiple workshops sponsored by SWS and enjoys the “paint outs” SWS sponsors for plein air painting in towns around Dallas.  He studied with David Taylor at Dillman’s in Wisconsin where he learned the Australian’s take on watercolor.  It was a return to simplification, speed, more aggressive and clearer colors and designs, another combination revelation and reminder.  He also painted with Sterling Edwards at Dllman’s whose crisp style and emphasis on finding a clear center of interest made a mark on Nick’s painting.

Watercolor is a work in process for Nick and that process is happily ongoing.