March Artist of the Month
Meet Naomi Wilsey
Naomi Wilsey grew up in Colorado in a Japanese American family. Her love of art began quite young. “When I was five, I was home a lot with my grandmother in Denver and I would watch a sumi-e or Japanese brush painting show. I was influenced a great deal by my grandparents who lived in Hawaii, my grandfather was a Japanese brush painter, photographer, and Bonsai expert and my grandmother taught Japanese and Japanese flower arrangement.” In high school, Wilsey was president of the Art Club: “though it can be quite solitary, I always loved being able to share art with others” and she has done so all of her life. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and Education from the University of Colorado and was certified as a public school art teacher. Wilsey and her husband moved to the East Coast after college and she began teaching art. While she gained knowledge of most media in art education, Wilsey primarily paints in watercolor and sumi-e (Japanese brush painting), and paints traditional landscapes, still life and florals.
As Wilsey and her husband started their own family in Sharon, Massachusetts, she realized that she wanted to spend more time at home so she started her own graphic design business and began teaching private art lessons. After moving to Needham, she was offered a position as Advertising and Promotions Manager at Prentice Hall Educational Publishing. She earned a Master’s Degree in Communications Management at Simmons University and was recruited for Communications and Marketing at IBM where she worked until retirement. Until the COVID pandemic she and her husband enjoyed traveling, but fortunately has continued painting and teaching.
Although retired, Wilsey does a great deal of volunteer work and is currently serving as President of the Dedham Art Association (DAA). She is a past co-president of the Needham Art Association and an exhibiting member of the Wellesley Society of Artists. She loves to enrich her community and still enjoys sharing her art with others. She does all of the workshops offered at DAA and is in a weekly painting group, now meeting through texting. Wilsey is on the Board of Needham Open Studios, where she enjoys having an open house, doing demos and preparing hands-on projects for her attendees. She has exhibited with the Rhode Island and the New England Watercolor Society and has exhibited at Gallery Twist in Lexington.
Wilsey is very grateful for her home in Needham where she was able to build a large studio to paint and teach. In this Victorian oasis, she and her husband also enjoy their Japanese Tea Room which is used for meditation and tea ceremonies. Another great love for Wilsey is plein air painting because “it combines my love of nature and art.” While she has “made the best of it” during the pandemic, she longs for the days where she can go outside and paint with groups of artists
