Desert beauty catching breath
meandering arroyo inviting journey
cactus blossom embodying fragility
hummingbird nest offering haven
Heart and mind sing in response
To capture that song
through color, mark, texture
layers of paint, ink, pigment, wax
smoothed down, scraped away
built up and eroded, geology in miniature
simplifying the complex, seeking essence
The past reflected in the present
the inner reflected in the outer
the hidden made evident
the evident, hidden
In the end, parts come together as whole
buried subtleties and mysteries
supporting and deepening the finished surface
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My passion for painting emerged during my first visit to Capitol Reef National Park high on the Colorado Plateau. That open, empty, sculpted land of mesa and canyon engendered an intense desire to respond graphically to its timeless beauty. I dutifully learned the tools of the painting trade—perspective, color theory, drawing—but soon realized that representational images of the land did not speak for me. I was, and am, touched more deeply by abstract elements such as light, form, texture, and color interaction than by more literal interpretations of my environment. They are what inspire my work.
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Nancy grew up in Sacramento, California, attended high school in Sedona, Arizona, and completed university degrees at Middlebury College, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University. Toward the end of a 25-year career as a research librarian and professor, Nancy and her husband left the urban life for the beauty of the Colorado Plateau, where they settled in Torrey, Utah. They now reside in Tucson, Arizona, amid the beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
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Background
- Monotype/Monoprint Workshops, Timberwick Studios, Santa Fe, NM
- Oil & Cold Wax Workshops, Rebecca Crowell, Levels I, II, & Masters
- Studio Group Workshops, Helper, UT
- Studio Art Certificate Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
General Education
- PhD, Communication, Stanford University
- MLS, Library Science, UC Berkeley
- MA, Spanish, Middlebury College
Juried Shows & Awards, Residencies
- Artist Residency, Centre d’Art i Natura, Farrera, Spain, 2013
- 1st Annual Kane County Artists Exhibition, Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts, Mt. Carmel, UT, 2008
- 84th Annual Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT, 2008
- Purchase Award, 64th Annual Cedar City Art Committee Exhibition, Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, Cedar City, UT, 2007
- Honorable Mention, Everett Ruess Plein Air Painting Competition, Escalante, UT, 2004
Exhibitions
- Group exhibition, Nest: Women Artists of Helper, amjworks, Helper, UT, 2017
- Solo exhibition, Earthbound, Gallery 24, Torrey, UT, 2015
- Annual Honoring Utah Artists exhibition, Alpine Art, Salt Lake City, UT, 2012-2014
- Solo exhibition, Gallery 24, Torrey, UT, 2010
- Two-person exhibition, Gallery 24, Torrey, UT, 2008
- Solo exhibition, Anasazi State Park Museum, Boulder, UT, 2007
- Emerging Artists exhibition, Helper Arts Festival, Helper UT, 2006
- Two-person exhibition, Anasazi State Park Museum, Boulder, UT, 2006