For painter Joyce Gagen, her tableau is the natural beauty of southern New Jersey.
The watercolorist, a Shamong resident, most recently showed her work at the 28th-Annual Ocean County YMCA Art and Decoy Show. She’s been exhibiting at the show for about 20 years and likes to collect decoys herself.
Gagen said most attendees are interested in local wildlife and nature and so her nature scenes fit right in.
Sales have fluctuated because of the economy, she said.
“But you still get your collectors,” Gagen said, noting she just sold a piece depicting boats for $1,500.
Enrolled in the Philadelphia College of Art from 1978 to 1985, Gagen said she started painting seriously in 1981.
“What I like about it is just I see things that are that look very creative in nature,” she said.
Gagen likes reflections in water, tree formations and the gentleness of shore birds.
“It just relaxes,” she said. “A lot of people buy my work because it’s very calming. It’s right at your beck and call you just have to look for it yourself.”
Gagen makes a living painting and has even secured some New Jersey governors — Brendan Byrne and Thomas Kean to name a few — as clients.
She paints about 16 hours a week.
“I like the morning because you get the purest of the light source at that time between 11 and 2:30,” Gagen said.
Gagen has exhibited her watercolors in various art festivals for more than 20 years.
Recent achievements include a one-woman exhibition at the National Wildlife Center, Laurel Md. for the U.S. Dept. of the Interior Fish & Wildlife Service in April 2002 and again in March 2004.
She also exhibited at the National Agricultural Center Hall of Fame, Bonner Springs, Kansas City in April 2001 and is in their permanent collection. In September 2000, she was the first recipient of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Excellence Award for Artistic Impression, and represented the state at the White House Easter egg hunt in 2000.
Gagen says her most gratifying accomplishments included showing at the Waterfowl Festival Invitational, Easton Md., and exhibiting at the National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C., from 1995 to 1999.
She’s also exhibited at the Rotunda of the Cannon Office Building at the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., in January 1994 and again in January 1996.
She has traveled extensively in the America, Europe and the Caribbean using a camera to obtain picture records for later use, a standard procedure for an artist.
The hours of research on the details of the subject helps her achieve the final product as it finally relates to her canvas.
Gagen garnered many awards throughout the 1990s to the present, including one from the Wings & Water Festival at Stone Harbor in September 2000. In 2006, she took first place.
She won best in show at the Nature & Wildlife Exposition, Virginia Beach, Va. Judges’ Choice Award in March of 2000; best in show at Millersville University, Pa. Carving & Art Show in March of 1996 to 1999, 2000, and 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Gagen also won the prestigious “Grumbacher” award in July 1999.
And at Lavallette Burlington Day in May 2005, she took home the best of show award. And, at the Wood Street Fair, Burlington, Gagen won second best in show in September 2005 and 2006.
She also has been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles as well as television appearances, and has been a speaker at various women’s club and art leagues throughout New Jersey.
