Welcome to Splash Art™, a new creative venture by Isaacs Pools and Spas. This curated collection features exclusive water-themed artwork designed to capture the movement and serenity of the element we work with every day.
We are excited to announce that new pieces are currently being displayed in our Johnson City showroom. Head on down to Isaacs Pools and Spas to experience the current exhibition now on display in the Splash Art™ gallery.
Samantha French is an oil painter known for her dreamy, ethereal depictions of women submerged in water, exploring themes of femininity, vulnerability, and the human connection to water. A 2005 graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, her work is deeply inspired by childhood summers spent in Northern Minnesota lakes, evoking feelings of escape, tranquility, and nostalgia. Now based in New York’s Hudson Valley, French creates richly textured, light-filled paintings that capture the movement and serenity of water, inviting viewers to reflect on both the physical form and the emotional depth of the human experience.
Herb Williams is a sculptor known for his vibrant, large-scale works, often created using unconventional materials like crayons. After earning a BFA from Birmingham-Southern College, he honed his craft working at a bronze foundry before settling in Nashville in 1998, where he continues to create. His career includes notable honors such as a Joan Mitchell Foundation grant and National Endowment for the Arts support, along with major public art commissions, including installations in Atlanta’s airport and the National Ranching Heritage Center. Williams’ work has been exhibited internationally and featured alongside prominent artists, with gallery representation across Nashville, Charlotte, and Laguna Beach.
Angel Hicks was inspired by the crayon-based artwork of Herb Williams and spent a year and a half exploring the medium firsthand, discovering the painstaking process of cutting and gluing each crayon individually. Primarily a hobbyist focused on watercolor landscapes, she used this project to branch into a new creative space, gaining a deeper appreciation for the complexity of crayon art. While she recognizes imperfections in her work, she embraces them as part of the learning process, seeing them as a reflection of both the effort involved and her growing respect for her original inspiration.
Water is the most essential element of life. Even before we take our first breath or see for the first time, we grow into humans while immersed in water. We have a natural and instinctive affinity for it. We travel long distances to experience its beauty and be transformed by its renewing force. Since the beginning of recorded history, humans have been captivated by the refreshing powers of water. Water moves us, nurtures us, heals us, makes us feel young, vibrant and alive; it washes away a life we want to forget so that we can emerge from it transformed with renewed purpose.
Nothing is more beautiful than when artists capture the beauty of water and the people who are enjoying and being transformed by it. However, there is no specific genre of art under which such works are created and collected. I propose: Splash Art™. Splash Art™ is not characterized by a specific media or art movement, but its subject. The art focuses on swimming pools, hot tubs, other recreational water and the activities around them. Splash Art™ is often seen as fun and exciting, due to the summer activities often associated with swimming pools; however, it is not always the case. The emotion Splash Art™ provokes can be as different as any two splashes of water.
While viewing the piece, open yourself to the awareness of how it makes you feel. Ask yourself “why?”. Does it remind you of a personal experience? Does it make you want to react in a specific way? Are you different from viewing it?
