Rob Nevitte

Thanks for visiting my site! I've had a lifelong interest in art, music and architecture. I attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., in the liberal arts program, class of 1973. During that time, I was lucky enough to indulge in plenty of art and music while majoring in math.

I have held memberships in various artist groups in the northern Virginia area, and have had my works on display there and at other venues, and in collections around the country and the world. I started painting in watercolor in 1985, while working as a software developer in Northern Virginia, where I grew up.

As a youngster, I developed a passion for the beauty of the Virginia landscape, and spent countless hours teaching myself about its flora and fauna. Even during my college years and another five years trying to make it big in NYC, I always came back to Virginia. And though my software work was in the realm of business, the personal computer (I started with an IBM PC with one floppy drive and 128K of memory!) quickly captured my interest with it's artistic potential.

I am constantly searching for unique ways to express a personal vision in each of my works.Over the years, I have developed a style that is sometimes traditional, and sometimes not so traditional, but the results are usually interesting. For example, I have developed a technique ofcombining watercolor with wax resist to create visual layers unlike typical masking techniques.The wax layer works to 'decompose' the image as it's being painted, in a way that creates a suggestion of detail, rather than a strict copy of the subject. This encourages the viewer's imagination to become more fully engaged, and I always believe that the viewer's imagination is better than anything I can paint!

With my background in software development, it was natural for me to discover that digital photography and computers are useful modern tools which can suggest new ways of presenting a traditional subject. This is an area that is still evolving, and there is fertile ground to be covered. As you can see from this site, digital technology has an important role in my work. As they say, "If Monet had had a digital camera, he would have used it!"

Otherwise, my inspiration is old fashioned:

"The subject must move me in some way, i.e., how the light reveals a pattern, or a feeling that's evoked by being in its presence, or simply its beauty or symbolism. It may come from a feeling of respect and admiration for the subject. It may possess an interesting color scheme, subtle or strong, or an unusual use of combined imagery or geometry."

I am in the process of publishing a book that covers in detail my techniques, and my approach to painting in general.

In addition to watercolor and digital media, I work in acrylic, pastel, oil, colored pencil: the subject often suggests an appropriate media in which to best express the mood or feeling of the work.

Happily, I have found my work being increasingly accepted into juried art shows, and receiving more acclaim. A few highlights:

2006: People's Choice award at the first annual Riverbend Plein air paint out at Riverbend Park on the Potomac river, where 25 local and nationally recognized artists competed for prizes. Subsequently elected president of the new Riverbend Artists Group.

Since 2007, I have been teaching watercolor landscape painting and drawing at Riverbend Park and other historic properties in Fairfax County.

2009: George Dumas master patron award for my work "Fallen Giant", a portrait of a snow covered fallen sycamore tree on the bank of the Potomac River in Loudoun County. Shown at the Vienna Arts Society 40th anniversary Treasury of Art Show, and which subsequently also received the Winsor & Newton Painting Award for excellence.

For more information, contact Rob at: rnevitte@verizon.net

Beaded Snake by Margie Davis

Contact maruth1953@yahoo.com