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Nona Stephens
Artist Biography
Nona H. Stephens is a Gainesville, Georgia landscape artist who first displayed an interest in art at the age of six through a coloring contest through a local departments store in her hometown of Forrest city, Arkansas. She won first prize for girls, and as fate would have it, her future husband won first place for boys. For Nona, art has continued to be a nurturing and identifying part of her life. She studied at the University of Central Arkansas, Tulane and Louisiana State University. The artist moved to Georgia in 1967, graduating magna cum laude from Brenau University with Bachelor's of Art degree in interior design.
Nona studied with Chris Didomizio in Atlanta and draws inspiration from favorite artists such as Turner, Bierstadt, Innis, Metcalf, Hassam as well as artists of the Hudson River School and the Luminist Painters. In the early 90's she went to London and saw the works of J.M.W. Turner at the Tate Gallery. She applied for permission to study in the archives and was able to privately view some of his over 20,000 watercolors. On Turner, the artist states, "I could never achieve his level of beauty and do not try to emulate his style, but I can still learn much from his command of paint and emotion to be conveyed. I feel I have to find my own voice and my own style."
In reference to her painting style, Stephens prefers the much more subtle colors of nature, especially at sunrise or sunset. Although she can appreciate the bold colors and brush strokes of other contemporary artists, she prefers to let nature be her primary inspiration.
Artist Biography
