Untitled Painting

. Born in the midst of the Great Depression, artist Nola Ahola inherited a spirit of optimism; that even in the most difficult times there are possibilities—if one would persist. Ahola's mother was a school teacher, the family breadwinner, an independent thinker in a small conservative Washington State town. There were no art classes at the rural school where the artist attended. In the 1970's Ahola developed a series of figure drawing and painting workshops with a feminist context. Her reputation as an inspiring teacher grew with her many classes sponsored by the UW Continuing Education Program. She also participated In art programs offered by the city, county and state. Most notable was her Artist in Residency at Stevens Elementary School in Seattle where she taught art to students and teachers for fourteen months. It was during this time that the artist developed her unique and popular Figure In Watercolor workshops in King and San Juan counties. In this period she produced over a hundred large scale brush drawings of dancers, a collection of which was showcased by Nordstrom Inc. The artist moved to Lopez Island in 1992, where she continued to exhibit. There she created and wrote a biweekly arts column, ”Artsake,” for the Islands' Weekly. It was on Lopez Island that she worked as a caregiver to artist Margaret Tomkins for three years, after which she traveled in France, Spain and Central Europe. She was the recipient of a grant from the Gottlieb Foundation in 2014. In the fall of 2015, she traveled to the Netherlands, Belgium, and the U K. Her advancing years seem to open up and strengthen her work process in surprising and welcome ways, rewarding the artist's lifetime optimism.