Artist Spotlight: Thoa Nguyen joined our gallery in April 2023. She shared some stories here that absolutely blew our minds!
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Favorite Seattle neighborhood
• Ballard.

Favorite Seattle restaurant/bar ~ and favorite item on their menu?
• Elliott’s Oyster House. I love their fresh oysters ~ by the way, also my favorite thing to eat.

Favorite Seattle park
• Green Lake park

Favorite beach/waterfront spot
• Sorry, it is Maui beaches.

Favorite seasonal Seattle activity/event
• Love the autumn, and of course summer in the Northwest!

Favorite style of house:
• Frank Lloyd Wright – Mid Century

Favorite Seattle movie theater
• AMC Factoria 8 ~ love those reclining chairs.

Favorite museum/galleries that gets your creative juices flowing.
• Palm Springs Museum of Modern Art, but really, I love all museums!

What is your secret/hidden/useless talent?
• Being an artist was my hidden talent, everyone knows me as a chef and restauranteur.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?
• I would say Katherine Hepburn but since she can’t, I would say Sandra Bullock.

What was your first concert? Best concert?
• First concert was The BEE GEES and my favorite was Journey 1983 and Queen opened the show!

What are your go-to comfort foods?
• Pate and French bread 😊, Oxtail stew, Crab melts, Banh Xeo, Prime Ribs … the list is long! I love food!

Are you an avid collector of anything?
• The Edo prints.

Where is the coolest place you traveled?
• The coolest places I have traveled are Japan, Vietnam, Italy. I mostly want to go back and travel more in Italy.

What is something that always makes you smile?
• Watching my kids eating. JK! Sunshine, the smell of freshly cut grass, flowers, autumn trees changing colors, my garden, my husband, and my kids.

What is your favorite random fact?
• I was in Beat Bobby Flay on the food network and I beat Bobby! 2015-episode Homeland.

What emoji do you use most often?
• Heart

What is the last TV show you binge-watched?
• Ozark

What TV shows are you watching right now?
• Columbo!

What movie could you quote by heart?
• Young Frankenstein.

What is the best advice you ever received?
• Darks receive, lights project

What is the worst advice you ever received?
• A girl’s best friend are diamonds

Favorite studio tool?
• Flat brushes and palette knife.

Favorite artists?
• Edward Hopper, Edouard Manet, Van Gogh, Helen Cohen, Denise Gilroy, Brian Blood…

Favorite color palette/color combo?
• I love orange and fuchsia or any warm and cool color next to each other.

Where are you from and how does that affect your work?
• I was born in Vietnam not sure how it affects me, but when I was younger, I thought I was going to be a writer. Turns out, I am more visual.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?
• My life drawing teacher in college, Jean Schiff. She really taught me to be loose and feel what I was doing.

What is your favorite medium, and why?
• Oil, it’s versatile and it allows me to do what I want.

Where do you find inspiration?
• Everything around me, the colors, architecture lines, buildings, and people.

When is your favorite time of day to create?
• Early morning is when I am at my best.

What motivates you to create?
• Sometimes it is the weather, sometimes it is where I traveled, sometimes it’s the subject matter.

How do you define success as an artist?
• Success is an artist who can express her artistic mind, and her voice.

Does your art practice help you in other areas of your life?
• It has calmed me and relaxed me. Art helps me with my anxiety and it has balanced me.

How has your style changed over time?
• I think my art is still evolving as I progress in my journey of art. It is inevitable that I change as we all do as we mature and age. I am excited to see where it leads me.