"I chose watercolor as my medium because it is unforgiving. I like that. Increasing the risk heightens my artistic awareness. Every portrait presents a new challenge, and I like that too."

At age six, Allen Polt's first grade teacher, so impressed with his natural talent, arranged the artist's first one-man show. Immediately, his gift was acknowledged and his life's purpose defined.

Polt went on the earn his Degree in Illustrating Arts from the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art. After graduating, he worked in New York City, drawing black and white portraits for the Wall Street Journal. He continued his studies of drawing and painting under the direction of Frank Reilly of the Art Students League.

In 1974, Polt left Manhattan for a change of pace and found visual inspiration in the landscape of Taos, New Mexico - an art community inundated with landscapes. His masterful paintings have been featured in galleries across the Southwest. Albeit a diversity of subject matter, Polt's heart kept returning to portraiture, which is what he enjoys doing most today.

Polt's ability to capture the essence of his subject's personality is appreciated through commissioned work throughout the world.