Fagan’s watercolor world centers on streetscapes (and dogs).
Edie Showalter Fagan, a native Winter Parker, loves dogs. That fact is relevant because this issue’s cover, a street scene of Park Avenue called Park Avenue Shade, was painted as an auction donation to benefit Franklin’s Friends, which helps support several local canine-oriented, not-for-profit organizations.
Fagan was also the poster artist for Winter Park’s 2005 Doggie Art Festival, the 2006 Winter Park Autumn Art Festival and the 2011 Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. In 2012, she published Adored Dogs, a collection of 61 watercolor portraits with an endearing biographical sketch of each furry subject. She has painted more than 300 dog portraits and still accepts occasional commissions.
Yet, despite her passion for pups, Fagan’s favorite subjects are streetscapes, whether in the Bahamas, a French village or, more recently, Winter Park. The National Watercolor Society and the Florida Watercolor Society have honored Fagan with signature memberships, and her work has been published in Splash 9, a collection of watercolors by top contemporary American artists, and the newly released Splash Retrospective: 20 Years of Contemporary Watercolor Excellence.
Fagan, who as a child took summer art-camp classes at Rollins College, later majored in art at Queens University in Charlotte, where she “focused on design, drawing, printmaking, pottery and art history — everything but painting.” She took up watercolors in 2001, after her children were grown, and calls Pasco County artist Pat Weaver, under whom she studied, her mentor.
To see more of Fagan’s work, visit her gallery representative, Be On Park on Park Avenue. Or check out her website, where signed, numbered prints are also available, at ediefagan.com.