Andy Evansen began painting watercolors in the mid-1990s. Though largely self-taught, he has studied with such well-known watercolorists as Alvaro Castagnet, Eric Wiegardt, and Skip Lawrence. He served as president of the Minnesota Watercolor Society from 2004-2006 and teaches at workshops in the Twin Cities area. Evansen exhibits and competes widely in regional and national galleries and juried competitions, and was the winner of American Artist magazine’s international watercolor competition in 2006 and a finalist in International Artist magazine’s landscape competition in 2007.

Evansen relishes the unique and unpredictable qualities of watercolor and the medium’s ability to render a scene in a manner that is both believable and spontaneous. By concentrating on the larger shapes and overall design, and leaving something to the imagination, Evansen forces the viewer to interpret details by drawing from their own experiences and memories. “It is quite a trick to make it look easy, and I take it as a compliment when viewers tell me how simple my paintings look up close while appearing complex and detailed from a distance.”