Emerging artist: Julie Tozzi

Age: 43

Hometown: Spokane

Education: Associate of Arts degree in 3-Dimensional/Industrial Design from the Art Institute of Seattle, 1991; watercolor painting with Stan Miller at Spokane Art School, March 2003-March 2005; Robert Krogle oil painting workshop, March 2003; painting group at Terry Lee’s, since 2003.

Day job: Married and raising three children. Corporate officer of Tozco Machine and Tool Inc.

Describe your art: A painter, Tozzi works in watercolors and oils. “My paintings are impressionistic in style, maybe with a sharper focus,” she says.

Influences: The Impressionists – especially Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt; lush portrait and landscape painter John Singer Sargent; and contemporary impressionist Richard Schmid. “Local artists Stan Miller of Spokane and Robert Krogle and Terry Lee of Coeur d’Alene have been great teachers and very generous in sharing their experience and encouragement,” Tozzi says.

Talk a little about your process: “I paint from life and photographs and usually have my camera with me,” Tozzi says. “Out of necessity, my studio is the dining room of our house. It’s hard for me to settle down to work because I have a lot of interruptions, so I have kind of a stop-and-go style of working. Oddly enough though, I’ve been told that my paintings are peaceful.”

What is your intent with your art? “I’m not trying to say anything really deep,” she says, “but I do relate to recognizable subjects, and I try to bring that out in my paintings in a well-designed way. I get a lot of satisfaction out of finishing a piece that has come together as I intended – especially with a challenging subject or technique.”

Where we can see your work locally: Tozzi is having her first solo show through Tuesday at the art gallery in The Met Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. The work is available for free viewing in the lobby, Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and for ticketholders during performances.

E-mail: juliet@sisna.com