Wendy Norton grew up on the beautiful North Shore of Long Island, New York. The scenes of tidal ponds, boats and rolling landscapes were indelibly etched in her mind from a young age. During her childhood, she was intuitively drawn to art as a youthful pastime. With her family's encouragement, she created artwork that was admired by many of her friends and family. This led to learning more about art history, and famous artists, by visiting the many museums in the New York area. She was always captivated by the works of Monet, Hassam, Pissarro, and Van Gogh, and spent countless hours studying these master works. Her appreciation for the talent, dedication and intensity of the Masters was a great influence on her development as an artist. While always having a love for fine art, Wendy wanted to pursue a career as an Art Director, so she went to the State University College at Buffalo, where she was formally educated in Graphic Design. From there, she went on to work as an Art Director for a major management consulting firm in Manhattan for many years. But it was painting that was always her true passion. Eventually she could no longer ignore her calling and decided to pursue that passion full-time. Norton has since developed her own style as a contemporary impressionist painter, and has gone on to become a highly desired artist. Norton utilizes unique brushwork and palette knife techniques to capture scenes that range from lush landscapes, to mesmerizing seascapes and captivating city scenes. Residing near the Intracoastal Waterway in Northeast Florida offers an endless range of subject matter to bring to life on the canvas. Norton's strong sense of color translates into movement in each piece she creates. Her paintings are uplifting and feel as though the viewer can step right into them. She uses a full palette of color when creating most of her works, but will sometimes work with a limited palette to create a real sense of mood and atmosphere. She bounces color and light through her painting like music in an orchestra. Her colors work in harmony to fill the canvas and embody her work with dynamism. Norton also employs a palette knife when creating paintings. Her handling of the knife is sometimes very delicate; like when she lights up a strand of grass with a sunlit highlight. On the other hand, her flower fields are very impasto. Her use of texture makes the flowers feel as if they are three dimensional. When Wendy was asked recently why she paints, she replied: "I paint because I have to. I feel it is my true calling and I want to share it with the world. I believe that art has the ability to awaken the soul. It can be healing, it can stir emotions, and it can uplift one's spirit. I believe that art is meant to tap into something deep within. It should enlighten you and make you "feel." Fine art is timeless. It is not meant to match your pillows or couches, or color swatches that are trending for the year. A piece of fine art will speak to you. It will take you to a place where you can lose yourself and dream. This is what I strive to accomplish in every piece that I paint.”