Nicolette Di Ponti
About 12 years ago, before she began painting golf courses, Nicolette retired from her professional career as Chief Financial Officer for a Fortune 500 Company to pursue her life-long interest in creating art. Prior to that she would occupy her leisure time by drawing pictures to amuse her children, keeping her interest alive and developing her talents. Now she could devote her time to her combined passions of golf and art.
Back to School
She studied art and drawing under several professional artists. She experimented in many mediums. She draws in colored pencil and pastels, paints in oil and acrylics, and works on construction paper, illustration board, wood and canvas.
Nicolette prefers to paint on canvas with acrylic paint for a variety of reasons.
- Acrylics last much longer than oil because acrylics are more flexible and, therefore, they are less susceptible to cracking.
- You can achieve the same effect with acrylic as with oil, but acrylics dry within a few hours, making them more efficient to use. Oils can take months to dry.
- Because acrylic paint is water-based it is more environmentally favorable than oil paint.
Custom Golf Paintings
It was during this time devoted to art that she developed a love/hate relationship with the game of golf ― the same relationship that most mere mortals have with the game. She began painting golf courses as a means to raise money for her golf association’s charity. She would create paintings of certain golf holes from courses she played on and donate the paintings to charity, where they were sold at auction. She also worked for the La Quinta Art Foundation, and as a volunteer would teach art classes to fourth graders and speak at career days at various schools.
Nicolette developed the idea for her art business while she was painting the 16th hole at Hassayampa Golf Club in Prescott, AZ. This is the signature hole of one of her home courses. The hole is a 140-yard par 3. From the tee an accurate iron will get you across a gaping canyon and safely onto the green. It was on this hole, about a week after starting the painting of this scenic par 3, that she made her first hole-in-one. It currently hangs over her fireplace mantel in her home at Hassayampa and she will not part with it.
“There are no guarantees that it will work for you, but you
might want to give it a try and let me paint your favorite par 3.”
― Nicolette Di Ponti.