Nita Engle

Wikipedia:
"One of Americas watercolor landscape artists, Nita Engle has earned her place in American history as an artistic pioneer. A Michigan native born in 1926, Nita attended the Art Institute of Chicago for four years with affiliated study at both Northern Michigan University and Roosevelt University. First employed as a colorist, Nita worked her way into the position of art director with a Chicago area ad agency. But watercolors were her passion, and before long she started the transition of becoming a full-time illustrator in watercolor for major publications. Some of her early work ranged from covers of Reader's Digest to illustrations in Playboy. From the onset, Nita's work stood apart. But starting an art career in the 1940s wasn't easy. Especially in a field predominately dominated by men. Through the earlier days of her career, she simply signed her work, "N. Engle" so as not to disclose her gender. As time passed, so did the acceptance of women artists and Nita's work flourished."