Eric Wiegardt, a native of Washington State, grew up near the small town of Oysterville. Following a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington, he graduated from the famed American Academy of Art in Chicago where he studied under his mentor, Irving Shapiro. He returned to his home town in 1985 to open Wiegardt Studio Gallery in the Victorian home built by his oyster pioneering great grandfather. Since then he has left an indelible mark on the art world.

He is a member of the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Allied Artists of America, Watercolor West, Northwest Watercolor Society, and the Transparent Watercolor Society of America. His work has exhibited at the Frye Museum, Salmagundi Club, Knickerbocker Artists, National Arts Club, Butler Institute of American Art, and others.

Among other honors, he has received the American Watercolor Society’s Mary S. Litt Medal, the National Watercolor Society’s President’s Award and Alice Leonard Memorial Award, the Northwest Watercolor Society’s Chuck Webster Memorial Purchase Award, the Grumbacher Gold Medal, the coveted John F and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship Award and the Philip Eisenberg Award.

Eric has taught his unique painting techniques to over 3,000 students in the US and internationally. With over 20,000 copies sold internationally, Eric Wiegardt’s book Watercolors Free & Easy has influenced countless artists. Now available in a new edition, it continues to teach both professional and beginning watercolor artists.

His instructional DVD’s have inspired artists around the globe.

Featured in many books on watercolor, Wiegardt has served as a judge as well as lectured and taught in the United States and Europe.

Over 3,500 original Wiegardt paintings are in private and corporate collections internationally.

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