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Biography
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Viola Pace KnudsenMission
Statement: My
mission is to use my art to highlight the experience of the beauty of the
natural world. I wish to provoke in
others a passion for our planets, nature, and wildlife that would encourage
people to protect them all. Viola Pace
Knudsen was born in 1956 in Springfield, Missouri, but spent her earlier years
in Cabool, Missouri where she and her family had one hundred and fifty acres of
land to explore. This area, where
her love of the outdoors sprouted, was filled with woods, ponds and hilly, green
landscapes. At the age of six,
Viola’s family moved to Iowa along a river where she lived until graduating
from high school. After high
school, she had planned to pursue her love of art through art school; however,
her urge to continue exploring took her traveling instead.
Upon graduation, Viola hitchhiked through every state west of the
Mississippi. When she
returned from traveling, she went home to the Midwest to reside wither her
parents, and her mother introduced her to the upholstery business. During this time, Viola also made anatomically correct dolls
that the police used to aide them in their investigations with sexually abused
children. These dolls proved to be
a very useful asset to the police making it easier and less traumatic for
children to admit what happened to them. She was prompted
to make a career change to provide a better life for herself and her children
after spending years in the Midwest. She
obtained an AS degree in electronics at Hamilton Tech in Iowa, and was hired by
Harris Corp in Melbourne, Florida. Viola admits
that her husband’s support throughout her many different avenues in life, is
part of the reason for her success in the art world.
Viola began painting in 2000, working with watercolors and pastels. After
honing her talent by practicing different techniques of painting and copying the
masters, she then began to create her own vision for her artwork.
While her main media and subject is now acrylic paintings of candid
portraits and nature, her main theme and goal is to create pieces that make
people feel good. Viola’s life
experiences, memories, love of nature, and drive have given her the courage to
maintain a successful career in art. Viola takes
photos in nature preserves, botanical gardens, zoos, and her own backyard, which
happens to be registered as a “Wildlife Habitat” by the National Wildlife
Federation. She uses these photos
along with her memories of all the great places that she and Kevin visit
together as inspiration in her paintings. Viola
also tries to benefit the wildlife she loves to photograph and paint through her
membership of the National Wildlife
Federation , Florida Native Plant Society and Florida Wildlife
Federation.
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