Biography

Floy Zittin has been interested in drawing and in nature studies since she was a child. She majored in biology in college and became more interested in painting while spending a summer in Japan. She began her career as a biological illustrator working on a taxonomic project for her Master's thesis. She was offered other illustrating assignments at the marine laboratory and was soon working on college textbooks. From 1976 to 1988 she was on contract with the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Canada providing drawings for a field guide.

Floy's husband is also a biologist and his career took them to British Columbia where they lived for ten years. Part of that time was spent in an isolated fishing village where Floy taught herself to paint by working on watercolor portraits of fish for the fishery biologists.

After returning to California in 1983 Floy has become active in the art community in the Bay Area. Her paintings have won numerous awards in regional shows and have been accepted in national competitions. She is a popular instructor offering classes and workshops in watercolor technique.

Artist's Statement

“My educational background is in biology and I continue to be excited about depicting the natural world. I enjoy combining detail and representation of a subject with the unpredictability of the watercolor medium. Ultimately,  I hope my paintings bring attention to local wildlife and will increase appreciation of our remaining open spaces.”

2007 Juried Exhibitions

> “Birds in Art”, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Aart Museum, Wausau, WI

> “67 th Annual Open Exhibition”, Northwest Watercolor Society, Mercer island, WA

> “Statewide Watercolor Exhibition”, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA; Honorable Mention

> “Open Exhibition”, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, NY, NY; Frank B. & Mary Anderson Cassidy Memorial Award