Watercolor, oil, pastels, charcoal, experimenting with shadows and light, with paper, canvas and framing — each of Nancy Scoble’s pieces gets three or four iterations, sometimes more and none are alike. It’s the challenge that has kept her in the studio for the past four decades.

Her latest challenge: watercolors on Japanese rice paper, a translucent material that adds texture and luminosity to her paintings. Throughout August and September, a collection of Scoble’s rice paper works is on exhibit at the North Carolina Estuarium in Washington.

The subject matter is eclectic. There are landscapes, birds, people, fish, including a Best in Show winner at the 2015 Martin County Fine Arts Show called “Shadow Jack,” a portrait of Scoble’s pet Jack Dog, steeped in shadow during a winter’s day nap.

“It’s not so much the subject for me. It’s the technique — pushing the envelope, (seeing) what else I can do with it,” Scoble said.

The Washington artist has honed that technique through several careers, all of which tackled different aspects of art. Her first paid job as an artist was at J.T. Reese Taxidermist in her home state of Florida. Working there part-time for nine years, Scoble airbrushed mounted trophy fish, bringing them back to full-color life before sending them home with their anglers. She got an education in how to paint aquatic life during that time, and when she moved on, she took the marine-life theme into the next phase of her career, she said. For another nine or 10 years, Scoble’s only advertising was an annual appearance at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, where she found clients who wanted custom artwork in a range of styles, on a range of surfaces. From there, she owned a photo re-touching business and, when digital photography became the norm, moved on to studying how to, then restoring antique paintings.

All of it has added up to a formidable artistic skillset.

“I don’t just play with pastels, watercolors. All the medium has led to what I do now. I’m not searching anymore. I’m having a blast. It’s just fun.” Scoble laughed. “I like the challenge — ‘ooh, I haven’t painted on that yet.’”

But knowing when to stop is paramount to any piece, no matter the media, she said.

“That’s the key: how much do I do? Do add something for the painting or to the painting,” Scoble said, citing a quote that she keeps on hand: “As long as you’re doing something for it, continue the work; when you start doing something to it, it’s time to stop.”

At the Estuarium, that philosophy can clearly be seen in Scoble’s paintings: a delicate hand doing just enough to bring a subject to full-color life.

The North Carolina Estuarium is located at 233 Water St., Washington. At the end of August, some of the rice paper paintings will be removed for an out-of-town exhibit and replaced with Scoble’s pastels, she said.