Effie Lewis Art

Watercolors and Watermedia

About the Artist

Effie has lived on the beach or near water most of her life which reflects in her watercolor and acrylic paintings of the sea and aquatic wildlife. She says she loves to sit on the beach near the water and watch the waves, sky and birds. "As an artist, my only way of preserving the beauty of our oceans and wildlife is by using color and design to imitate the emotion and wonder that we feel and see today in our fragile environment." Her paintings, pet portraits, murals and prints can be found in homes throughout Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, New York and Pennsylvania.

She grew up on Hollywood Beach, Florida and loves to paint beach and downtown Hollywood scenes. Now she lives on a lake in Western Broward County. Besides paintings of the ocean and beach, you'll see ones of the Everglades and of Florida's Native Trees and Flowers as well as underwater scenes of reef fish and manatees. She is primarily a realist and uses the qualities of watercolor in a somewhat controlled technique. She became interested in painting still life set ups of various antiques and antique glass that her mother left her in the historic home she lived in on Hollywood Beach. Although a lot harder and sometimes tedious to paint, she says that she needed other types of paintings to challenge herself professionally and has learned a lot by attempting these still life paintings in watercolor.

She has been drawing and painting since the age of eight and is primarily self taught. She works primarily in watercolors, but also is adept at Acrylics and Pastels (which she often uses for her pet and child commissioned portraits). Effie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Florida State University) and Master of Arts Degree (Central Michigan University). She is a member of the Florida Watercolor Society, Hollywood Art Guild and the Pembroke Pines Art Guild and has exhibited at several local community centers, libraries and city halls. She consistently wins first, second or third place in shows each year. Some of these include shows held in the Pembroke Pines Glass Gallery, SW Regional Library, Hollywood Library and Anne Kolb Nature Center. Until recently, she also participated in the Florida Outdoor Art Shows from October to April including the Las Olas Art Show, Cape Coral Festival, Old Hyde Park Show in Tampa, Winter Park Art Festival and, of course, the local shows including Downtown Historic Hollywood Music and Art Festival and the City of Pembroke Pines Art Festival.

Effie loves to teach and pass on the techniques she's learned to others. Currently, she teaches for the City of Pembroke Pines in the SW Focal Pt Center on Tuesday evenings. She has regularly demonstrated to local art groups and holds workshops and local weekly art classes at craft shops near her home. She loves teaching and taught as a Corporate Product Manager for many years before doing her art full time.

Effie Lewis Artist Pembroke Pines, FL 33029 Last Update 01/13/2012