Joel W. Carlson's father, an avid bird watcher and nature lover, often took Joel on nature hikes and bird watching as a youth. This helped shape his love of nature and choice of subject matter in his art. He leans towards a tight, realistic style in his watercolors, as he works mostly from live plants, which are used as models for a close-up look at details. In making his paintings realistic, he deliberately includes the flaws that would be seen in nature. He says, “I don’t want perfection, so if I see leaves which have been eaten by bugs, or which are starting to turn yellow or brown, I will paint them that way.”
Carlson received his BA in Advertising Design from Boise State University in, Idaho, and is currently a resident of Manoa Valley in Honolulu, Hawaii since 1983. © Joel W. Carlson
