Frozen Dreams & Abstract Realities: Winter’s Dual Nature

finger painted oil on canvas 24 x 30 x 1.78" My art explores the relationship between perception and imagination. Created as an antidote to stress, I use visually calming forms and optical illusions to imbue a sense of wonder. I work in various media. In my upcycled sculptures, I transform mass-produced consumer goods into organic forms that float at the ceiling, cascade down the wall, and glow in the dark. I also communicate through high-tone and gilded paintings, luminous ink paintings, and fractal-like photographic designs in limited editions of five that are dye-sublimated onto aluminum panels. I often hide tiny positive messages in my art that range from large-scale to miniature, many of which play with light. Through my work, I create opportunities that invite tuning into the present moment and letting everything else disappear as curiosity takes over because everyone benefits when they experience a dopamine release. This feel-good chemical has the power to shift perspective and positively impact the world. I play with perception and imagination through the Fauvist lens in my submitted work. Native color is replaced with tonal cousins, sharing a version of reality that exists in my mind. I love the grandeur of the mountainscape and allow my interpretation to guide my work. This painting has the word “LOVE” snuggled within it as a talisman for what we all want to find within our hearts when we experience the natural world, especially in Winter. May my frozen dreams and abstract realities call Winter’s dual nature to mind and ignite your curiosity! Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

colored pencil 22 x 16" My artwork is a straightforward sharing of what I see in the world around me, whether it is my family and the traditions we share, or nature including rivers, lakes, rocks, and plants. Nature work is usually inspired by the lake area in northern Wisconsin where we have a family lake house, and by the gardens and trees of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, or by public gardens I visit on trips. I want the viewer to see the beauty of those places, to smell the scent of flowers and hear the rush of a river depicted in my work. Winter's End is inspired by a river near my lake house just as the long, cold, dark winter thaws into spring. Realism is the style that I have embraced for my work. Perhaps the truth is that it embraced me, flowing naturally from my hand. I have worked in oils, acrylics, and watercolors and occasionally still do, but colored pencil is the medium I have chosen for most of my work. What started as a lifestyle choice (pencils are clean and easily transportable from primary residence to lake house) became an artistic choice. I’m a control freak - free and loose is NOT my style - so colored pencils are the perfect medium for me. Their layering and blending capabilities, the transparency of some colors, and vibrant pigments help me convey the interplay of color and light in my subject matter. At times, I use colors that are more brilliant or saturated than what I see in nature, and this is the case with Winter's End. I want the viewer to feel the coming of spring even as the snow sparkles on the rocks. That color pleases me, and I hope it pleases the viewer. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

mixed media 60 x 30 x 2" Imagine my surprise when I was shortlisted by the UN for the Art of Climate Change! I did not end with the final online publication, but it led me to the study of our earth and world with both beauty and concern. It is dimensional building of relief in my paintings, that maybe, just maybe, will bring the immediate concerns of present life to our touch. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

photo 14 x 11" My source of inspiration is nature and frozen objects come from natural surroundings. The frozen droplets on iced branches create something of beauty and surreal wonder of nature. They appear as jewels suspended from golden lines and the evening background illuminates them. Taking a moment to gaze at the photo is a healing experience and transcends you closer to the universal one. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

digital archival photograph 8 x 9" I have spent much of my adult life photographing. I shoot anything that interests me, but over the years I have developed several specific portfolios that deal with my observations of city and country life: Street Seen, Rain, Graffiti, Torn Elegance and Reflections (puddles, buildings, ponds, stores) to name just a few. I have tried to teach myself to be a constant observer, searching always for new ways to interpret the customary. I see beauty in puddles, and have spent a lot of time gazing at, or photographing through wet surfaces. I ask the viewer join me and contemplate how things are magnificently transformed when one is looking “through” water-whether via puddle or pond reflections, or by simply gazing at a wet window during a rainstorm. Observed this way, all is transitory and ephemeral—perhaps a surreal, alternate reality, if you allow yourself to be drawn in by it. In my “Street Seen” series, I explore the lines and shapes that have been created over time, due to the effects of weather, traffic and corrosion. These crossing lines, or walkways that have eroded, are open to literal, figurative or conceptual interpretations. For me, they are found abstract compositions. I isolate small portions, hoping that to present these ubiquitous markings from another perspective. In short, I search for the aesthetic possibilities in mundane things that are often overlooked by people rushing by. I consider that which passers by have seen/not seen a million times. I hope to transcend the “ordinary” of the commonplace, and afford the willing viewer an opportunity to contemplate the world in a fresh way. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

pastel on paper, mounted photograph 25 x 32" My assemblages: pastel on paper and mounted photographs, are created by layering juxtaposing elements: nature vs. glitter. The viewers are immersed into my glowing, dazzling world of color, light, dimension and beauty. The effects are invigorating and enlightening and allows the viewer to pause and restore. I create these stills by combining the elements: ie. photographs of the landscape in seasons and detailed photographs of glowing or glittering moments. The paralleling objects are added to accentuate these phenomena. These compelling compositions are the culmination of many carefully executed steps that define my unique creative process. My most memorable highlight was being reviewed by Sam Hunter, Art Critic and Historian of Modern and Contemporary Art who found my work “refreshingly unique”. This has been a common theme among many of her positive reviews. “Nancy offers a “different” approach and passion to drawing. She is consistent in her vision…one can always recognize her signature style no matter how much she has changed or grown.” Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

colored pencil on paper 34 x 23" New Beginnings is a portrait of my son using my own reference photographs, imagination and live luna moths that we raised and studied. The use of the luna moth and rosemary are to symbolize transformation, renewal, regeneration, faith, love, remembrance, and clarity after overcoming the trials and tribulations of the pandemic. My goal was to use a vibrant, saturated and painterly style to create a magical mood. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

photogravure etching 11 x 12" I am a visual artist working in the San Francisco Bay Area, and show my work locally and nationally. My artwork explores themes of nature in the form of animals, lands, skies and waters, always looking for the spirit within. It was Christmas Eve on the beach at Isle of Palms, SC, during the polar vortex, 19 degrees out. Everything was frozen, the sand and dunes, the water puddles, and even the wildlife. Nonetheless, we walked aside the surf, bundled in our puffy jackets and knit hats, scarves and gloves, and soaked in the ambiance, the salt water air, the sound of the waves, the hardness of the cold sand, observing the few birds that were flying around us or skittering on the beach. Upon encountering this very cold little crab, I felt so bad for it, and when I reached out to touch it, it moved. Ah, he is alive! I thought as I put him back into the waves, “there is hope”. This piece is a photogravure etching, the image made on photopolymer solar plates. It is fitting that both sun and water are involved in the process of making the plates, and contributed to the translation of the image. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

acrylic on paper 22 x 40" For me, winter unfolds as a season of deep introspection and rejuvenation. It signifies a retreat, a gentle withdrawal into the cocoon of contemplation. It's a moment to hit the pause button, release a contemplative exhale, and immerse myself in a review of the past year. My surroundings undergo a magical transformation where the intricate lace of bare branches embellishes the muted backdrop. The air takes on a crisp quality, carrying a profound sense of clarity and calmness. In the snow-covered forest surrounding my home, a hushed and muffled symphony of nature emerges, creating a tranquil ambiance. Winter beckons me to embrace solitude, encouraging me to discover the beauty inherent in the stillness that blankets everything. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

bronze 21 x 6 x 6" The wish for warmth and shelter after an earthquake and in the face of a winter storm is the subject of this sculpture. In 2005 the residents of the Vale of Kashmir huddled against the cold and wind in just those conditions. I was working on the plastilene model for this bronze in the summer time and could not shake the chill. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

silverpoint on paper 4 x 7 x .5" Winter’s cold clarity of light echoes silverpoint’s play of light from metal particles, as in a scene of the skyline silhouettes of sentinel trees I drew in chilly Brittany, as I huddled in my car. In the Blue Mountains, a dead pine tree epitomized the wintertime quiet of death, hibernation or new life forming. Frozen realities also use winter symbolically. The genesis of Frozen in Time (Japan) was a photograph my grandfather took in 1924 Japan, a country shocked and reeling after the Great Kanto Earthquake: a photographic record of time frozen, a landscape long forgotten and changed, yet to me utterly poignant and eloquent. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.  

oil on canvas 20 x 24" The view across the field or down to the water while spending time in Maine draws me into the feeling of nature surrounding me. Seasonally I find the changes of the drama always changing but I have to find different ways of painting or drawing it. The shadows of winter or so different. The trees create amazing patterns in the snow that bring me back to my textile days. I try to create it like an impressionistic design. Additional shipping/delivery charges will be handled between artist and buyer after the purchase.