JoAnn LaPadula is an award-winning artist who resides in Fort Myers, Florida where she moved four years ago after living in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State her entire life. She is a director and member of Fort Myers Beach Art Association, a member of Alliance for the Arts, and the Florida Watercolor Society. Her work has been featured on the cover of the Sand Life Magazine, in Gulfshore Life, and online on exhibit with the Florida Watercolor Society. Some of her works reside in collections as far away as Guantanamo and California.

She obtained a BA degree in art from Buffalo State after graduating from Rockland Community College. After graduation, she worked in the field of graphic design for 30 years.

Retirement gave her the opportunity to return to her interest in fine arts and she began painting in watercolor. JoAnn states: “I was not interested so much in the traditional watercolor style, so I attended a few workshops to find my own. I do not consider myself a traditional watercolor artist but would say I am more of a ”colorful” abstract/realist. Here in SWFL I am thrilled to say I was able to find people who have been a great inspiration to me and I found the support I needed to begin my second career.” 

Sue Pink grew up with a commercial artist & illustrator mother, and a father in the construction business. As such, Sue was exposed to creativity since she was old enough to hold a crayon. She always had plenty of readily available art supplies for her use, and use it she did! Growing up, Sue attended schools in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Midway through college, she married and moved north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Later she settled on a cranberry bog near Cape Cod, MA. During this time she became interested in and pursued the medium of watercolor. She began taking classes with local instructors, but soon was taking every available workshop offered by nationally known talented artists. Sue has been awarded signature membership in The American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Southern Watercolor Society, Florida Watercolor Society, Georgia Watercolor Society, Texas Watercolor Society and Tallahassee Watercolor Society.

Sue currently teaches watercolor and water-media classes, conducts workshops and public demonstrations of her painting technique, is a popular demo artist for the Florida Watercolor Society, and conducts gallery talks to instruct the public how to better understand why the winning artworks were chosen. Sue’s art work has been displayed in over 200 competitive art shows and she has received over 90 awards for her paintings. She has been published in Splash 13, Splash 14, and The Artist Touch 6.