After 44 Years in Finance, Joseph S. Sturniolo Finds a New Calling in Watercolor
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. – September 23, 2026 – Most people spend a lifetime looking for the thing they were meant to do. I found mine in my sixties, with a brush in my hand. My name is Joseph S. Sturniolo, and after more than four decades as a financial planner, I’m now painting portraits and water scenes in transparent watercolor — and studying one-on-one with Mary Whyte, one of America’s most respected water color artist.
My path to the easel was anything but direct. I grew up without a single art class, and set aside an early interest in drawing to chase what I thought were more important pursuits — theatre, an MFA from Northwestern University, and ultimately a career in finance that has now lasted forty-four years and continues today. The turn came about a decade ago, almost by accident, when I picked up paints on a whim and copied a work by the celebrated watercolorist John Pike. The result stunned me. Three years ago, an online portrait course turned a casual pastime into a devotion, and I now complete a new painting every two to three weeks.
I don’t paint pretty pictures I paint moments in time. A face represents years of love and pain and sorrow, and I want people to stop and gaze at a painting as if it is speaking to them.
Two years ago, that pursuit led me to Mary Whyte, whose portraiture I had long admired. After several online classes, she offered me a one-on-one mentorship a relationship that continues to shape my work today. I describe my own style as realistic and story-driven, built on careful composition, and I draw on influences from Sargent to Zorn to Caravaggio, with Whyte foremost among them.
Among the works closest to me is The Lathe, a portrait of a retired engineer at his craft that I painted as a study in light and drama. My subjects range widely intimate portraits, the shifting color and reflection of water at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and story scenes drawn from real life. All of my paintings start with a feeling, and all of them carry a message.
One body of work stands apart. My Faces of Ukraine series, painted after the war began, captures the courage and sorrow etched into the faces of ordinary Ukrainians. These works are not for sale and never will be; I have shown them with a simple hope that anyone who sees them will regard Ukrainians a little differently than they did before.
For me, the work is inseparable from faith. There is a line in the film Chariots of Fire “I run because it pleases God” that I never forgot, and never fully understood until I was gifted, later in life, with a skill I didn’t know I had for over sixty-five years. That is why I now say: I paint because it pleases God. I want to capture the heart.
I am now pursuing gallery representation, and over the next few years I hope to exhibit widely, create larger narrative works, and continue learning under Mary Whyte. My portfolio including the Faces of Ukraine series and my portrait and water collections can be viewed at my website Joseph Sturniolo Artwork
About Joseph Sturniolo Artwork
Joseph S. Sturniolo is a watercolor artist based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. His work focuses on realistic portraiture, water scenes and narrative paintings that explore emotion, character and personal stories.
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