Karen Brungardt—the Guild’s former Board President and frequent teacher for art classes as well as Art & Wine and Art Sampler events. 

Q: What are your artistic specialties?
A: I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, then went on to become a medical doctor. Around 1990, I started taking watercolor classes in the evening at our local community college and fell straight in love with the medium. After retiring in SaddleBrooke, I started taking watercolor classes again and that’s become my specialty. My work is available in the Roadrunner Gallery, Absolutely Art, and the SAWG Gallery in Tucson; my website is www.brushmarks.weebly.com. 

Q: How long have you lived in this area?
A: We moved here in 2002 to soothe my arthritis. I started teaching beginning watercolor classes after a few years because no one else was offering this skill level. We enclosed part of our patio into an art room for me, and that’s where I create most of my paintings. I’ve also found time to write and self-publish sci-fi/fantasy books and memoirs under my author name, K. E. Brungardt.

Q: What is your philosophy about teaching?
A: Make it fun! I teach by encouragement--telling students not to be so hard on themselves. We focus on their good efforts and opportunities for improvement with small adjustments. I like to show them step-by-step how to make a finished painting. I enjoy watching them accomplish something to take home whenever possible.

Becky Easton - Oil Painter

Unlike most of the Saddlebrooke residents, I am a third generation

Tucsonan and I have lived most of my adult life in the southwest. We moved to Saddlebrooke five years ago and having a casita studio

was a dream come true.

I am primarily a self-taught artist that began my artistic journey when I

retired. For most of my life, I dreamed of becoming an artist, but

with my busy and complicated life, it wasn’t until I retired that I began

this wonderful journey.

I was fortunate to find two local mentors to get me started and I

followed up with several workshops at the Scottsdale Artists School,

Tubac Art Center and workshops taught by local professional artists.

I had the privilege of working under Nationally Recognized animal

artists Gregg Beecham and Dustin Van Whechel, floral artists Kathy

Anderson and Elizabeth Robbins, and landscape artist Kathryn Stats.

I have received several awards and have sold my paintings in

galleries in both Tucson and Oro Valley.

I enjoy encouraging and mentoring anyone to find their own path

because learning to paint is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Painting has taught me patience, to appreciate and see the world

around me with a different perspective, and has brought me great

friendships and personal satisfaction. My art has been my closest

friend for more than twenty years and I have learned that whatever

we choose to do, be it painting, writing, golf or cooking…whatever

excites us…the more we practice and experience, the better we

become!

Linda Nagy-Teaches drawing

Linda has enjoyed sketching and painting since childhood. She grew up in Atlanta, GA where at an early age, she studied watercolor with a local artist. She attended the University of Georgia and graduated with BFA and MFA degrees in graphic design. Her career began at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, MO where she designed greeting cards in watercolor media.  After returning to Georgia, she worked for several years as a layout artist before establishing a retail and direct marketing business with her husband. She was the art director for 33 years for their nationwide mail-order company.

In the 1990s, Linda re-established her love for painting by attending workshops throughout the US and taking courses in watercolor, and watercolor portraiture. She studied with Jan Kunz, Naomi Brotherton, Judy Wagner, Ann Weaver, and Tony Van Hasselt among others. After retiring from their mail-order business, Linda and her husband, Bernd, moved to Colorado. There Linda was a member of Woman of Watercolor in Summit County, Colorado, and enjoyed sharing ideas and teaching others the art of painting and sketching.

Besides art and photography, Linda and her husband published several Colorado books. Their latest books published in 2019 and 2020 are Rocky Mountain Wildflowers Field Guide, and South Park Colorado History and Heritage. Linda also illustrated a motivational book, If You Tell Me, I Can Fly, that won several book awards.

The rich tapestry of events in Linda’s life influences her work. She travels extensively with her husband throughout the US and the world. Besides residing now in Arizona, she and her husband have another home in the North Georgia mountains where they can be near their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. Linda’s eclectic style is constantly evolving and reflecting new techniques and influences. Color is a strong point that permeates all of her works. She looks forward to painting and sketching with other fellow artists in the Saddlebrooke Fine Arts Guild.

Linda's Gallery                                                                

Delys Nast

As a child of an artistic mother and granddaughter of a sculptor, Delys Nast grew up with pastels in one hand and brushes in the other, with the freedom to explore any creative outlet she could imagine, including a career in graphic design. Not afraid to get her fingers muddy with clay or dyed brown from mahogany wood stain, her passion for nature in an expression of creativity has evolved into many diverse skills across several types of media. Painting, woodworking, jewelry, lapidary... this list goes on and on and keeps growing. Pastel is her go to media which gives a beautiful soft texture to any canvas/paper with a myriad of colors available through blending and creative techniques. From artists like Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec and even Picasso, this medium has enjoyed a long history

• SaddleBrooke resident for 3+ years originally from Minnesota 
• Member of the SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild, Jewelry and Lapidary, Fiber Arts and Woodcarving.
• Delys sells at both the Arts and Craft Fair and Fine Arts Show and Sale plus she does commission art pieces in both oil and pastel.
  Nast Art Gallery

Renee Pearson-Hospitality Coordinator,  teaches watercolor painting.

Q: What can you tell us about your artistic journey?

A: I always enjoyed art while growing up, so I completed a bachelor’s degree in art at California State University, Hayward. It’s important to paint what I know and enjoy – and to do it often! My work was in galleries in California and Santa Fe, New Mexico. I earned many awards from art associations in those states and in the Tucson area.

Q: How long have you lived in this area?

A: We moved here 12 years ago from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before that we lived in northern California, where I owned a gallery in Pleasanton. We were drawn to Tucson for the wonderful weather that made it easy to golf year-round. Our casita became my studio.

Q: What is your philosophy about teaching?
A: I feel that everyone who is starting out should learn the basics…then they can go off on their own. I teach one-day classes here at SaddleBrooke, where my students can follow what I’m doing step-by-step to better understand my painting techniques. Most end up with a successful painting, and all students learn some new techniques.

Q: Where can we find your work?

A: In the Fine Art Shows in SaddleBrooke and in the Southern Arizona Watercolor Gallery at the Williams Center on Broadway in Tucson.