HOLMES BEACH – Island Gallery West recently announced the artist of the month for November, and it’s not difficult to see what inspires Jody Goldman.
A retired flight attendant, Goldman was fortunate to get to travel the world and used her free time to observe the wildlife wherever she found herself.
“The opportunity to travel and see the abundance of wildlife in such diverse nature settings in the countries I visited was the primary influence of my painting,” Goldman said. “It was then that I realized I wanted to concentrate my focus on being a wildlife artist.”
The former Miami resident is now retired and lives on the Gulf coast of Florida, and for good reason. Goldman says she is inspired by the many birds in the area. In addition to Florida birds and wildlife, she also likes to paint the animals she observed on multiple trips to Africa. Her display at the gallery, titled “Walk on the Wild Side,” features African animals alongside local birds and marine life. In addition to painting with oil, she also works with colored pencils.
“I only want to paint wildlife, and that’s all I paint. I’m super realistic, I don’t do any abstract or impressionist,” Goldman said. “I paint animals from all over; buffalo from Wyoming, chickens from my family’s garden in Iowa and anything I observe in my travels.”
Goldman may be retired, but she works on her art five to six hours a day, six days a week and has no plans on slowing down anytime soon. Art is her passion, and it shows in the quality of her work. She also loves to paint and draw dogs; in fact, she is happy to do a commission piece for your dog or dogs. Stop by Island Gallery West for plenty of examples of her work, and if you would like to order a commissioned work of art, you can view examples and place an order. For more information, email artistjodygoldman@gmail.com.
Each month, Island Gallery West chooses one of its 28 member artists to be the featured artist of the month. The artist chosen has a large display of their work in the front of the gallery for the entirety of the month they are featured, in addition to their permanent display in the gallery. All of the artist’s work is available for purchase.
