As a young artist, my first home away from home was a little house in the country here in Indiana. Even though I was renting, I wanted to give it my personal touch… it was crying out for art on the walls. At the time, I made my living sketching pastel portraits of children for clients. I didn’t have any paintings appropriate for my home. I remember checking into the marketplace, looking in magazines and through distributor catalogs to see what I could hang above my fireplace, over my bed or behind the couch.
Art, I felt, would add more joy and inspiration, an important part of making my little rented house a home. As I looked around, I found nothing with meaning and I couldn’t afford an original painting. There seemed to be nothing in between the almost absurd commercial, inexpensive art and an original… so, I decided to paint my own, my taste was French country. I wanted a rocking horse over my fireplace, a big beautiful cat over my bed and a rooster in my kitchen… and maybe a floral behind my couch.
Many who have followed me from my early career remember these paintings. In a stroke of genius, I turned them into posters and they were in high demand and the rest is history. These images have continued to hold their value and are still available exclusively through my studio on archival canvas and paper.
Today, I am surprised at the number of homes I see that have no art, or the kind of art that just simply fills a space. I realized that because of the art movements in the last century, people are confused about art and as a result they often avoid it. It’s interesting because art is the most valuable commodity in the world and yet the least understood. The misunderstanding is a whole story in itself which I would be glad to get into at a different time.
Now more than ever, we need to keep our eyes and thoughts on beauty and surround ourselves with who and what we love. Art in the home is a statement of who we are and what we think and what we believe. I hope you will take time to look closely and consider art for your home, whether it is mine or another artist. I encourage you to embrace art and the inspiration it brings to your life. For these reasons, I will continue to make my art affordable and available.
Keep your eyes on my new LOOKBOOK for ideas.
Be blessed,
Nancy
Comments (3)
And now we have the Noel pictures all around our house. We have many but there are never too many and there is always another one I’d like to find.
I have followed up on your art for over 10 years and you ‘re my biggest inspirational I’m good in art and I stopped when I graduate from high school and been very busy with my kids and hope to get back into art one day soon I hope. I like someday to filled my house with my paintings like yours that u decorated. I also followed u in Pinterest as well. Keep it up I love to see what’s next
The first time I was aware of Nancy’s work was approximately 1986 when I saw a postcard of one of her paintings. I had to have it….a young girl on a horse named Ashley (the same name of my new baby girl at that time). It was serendipitous that soon Nancy was having her paintings made into prints and I became an avid collector. We met a few years later due to our mutual love of Africa. One of her African paintings graced the cover of the inflight magazine for the company I worked for during that time period. From there, of course, I fell in love with the angels, the still life, the horses, and more. My husband and I got married in The Sanctuary, Nancy’s beautiful art gallery, and we continued together to now collect her gliche paintings. We were thrilled to purchase an original of a young girl and her horse that had been hidden deep in Nancy’s attic from her early years as an artist. We cherish it. Thank you from all of us everywhere for speaking to our hearts through your art. Love and blessings always!