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Gwen Settle

Gwen Settle

Gwen Settle creates watercolor paintings that balance observation and intuition. Working from landscapes, still lifes, and imagined spaces, she builds layered compositions in which recognizable forms emerge and dissolve through color, line, and gesture.

Watercolor's fluid nature plays a central role in her process. Transparent washes, staining, drips, and accumulated marks remain visible throughout the work, allowing each painting to retain a sense of discovery. Rather than describing a specific place or subject, Gwen is interested in how experiences, memories, and observations are transformed through the act of painting.

Influenced by Fauvism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism, she develops images through an ongoing dialogue between control and chance. Landscape, botanical forms, and everyday objects often serve as points of departure, but the finished paintings occupy a space between representation and abstraction. Recently, she has begun expanding her approach into still life and figurative subjects while maintaining the expressive mark-making and layered color relationships that define her artwork.

Gwen was born in Pittsburgh, PA. She is a self-taught artist working primarily in watercolor, drawing, pen and ink. Her interest in art began during childhood visits to the Carnegie Museum of Art, where her grandfather worked as a security guard. Those experiences inspired a lifelong engagement with painting. Her artwork has been featured in solo exhibitions at Studio 4 and Mr. Smalls, and in group exhibitions throughout the Pittsburgh region. She lives and works in Pittsburgh's Bloomfield neighborhood.

portfolio.jpg View Gwen Settle's artwork in the 2026 exhibition, Some Things Soften

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