Nina Major

Nina Major is an accomplished watercolor artist. She grew up in South Lake Tahoe and recently moved to the Sierra foothills with her husband, Paul. 

Nina has always been interested in art and wanted to pursue an art career. After 50 years working as an executive assistant, floral designer, preschool teacher, and her own stained glass and sandblasting business, she was final able to do that. She studied at Lake Tahoe Community College under such teachers as D.A. Russo, Phyllis Shaffer, and David Foster. She started showing her watercolor paintings in several solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions, as well as art festivals throughout California and has won numerous awards. 

The beauty of nature has always awed and inspired Nina. Her goal is to create paintings that emphasize realistic qualities in beautiful color. Watercolor allows her to capture the fluid transparency she loves using glazing and color mingling techniques. She almost exclusively paints from photographs, often using several at a time as reference.           

Currently, Nina is working on her nature “portrait” series. The emphasis is on close-focus paintings that show details you wouldn’t normally notice. Subjects include flora and fauna, especially marine life, owls, birds and animals. She also enjoys painting the occasional landscape.