The Artistic Interpretations Of Nancy Adams Nash

June 10, 2016

Traverse City native Nancy Adams Nash knew early in life that her destiny was in art. “I remember on my first day of kindergarten, we were let out for recess,” she said. “I saw an easel in our classroom, and I knew that I wanted to paint at that easel instead of going out for recess. In the second grade I wrote a paper that said I wanted to be an artist and to teach art. But it wasn’t until junior high that my seventh-grade teacher, Jan Montgomery, called my parents and told them, ‘There’s something special about Nancy.’ She was very encouraging.”

After high school, Nash left TC and lived across the country, making stops in Coos Bay, Ore.; Washington, D.C.; Greenwich, Conn.; upstate New York; then Suttons Bay and Charlevoix before settling into a place on Old Mission Peninsula “I don’t travel — I move,” she said with a laugh.

During all these wanderings, Nash held down a variety of jobs and doggedly continued to paint.

For the past five years or so, she’s been painting with acrylics. An art restorer once told her that canvas rots, so she transitioned to working on wooden panels. The vast majority of her recent paintings reflect her intelligent sense of humor, often combining surrealism and whimsy.

At first, working in acrylics was a bit of a challenge for Nash. “It dries quickly and shades differently,” she explained. “But it didn’t take too long to figure out. My works are not offensive, not controversial. They’re almost automatic paintings. I start with a basic underlying color, often black, but sometimes gold or blue. Then I scribe through it with primitive tools. I only have a certain amount of time, and I never know what’s going to come out of them. They are deliberately crude, not a lot of refinement.”

After some prodding, Nash admits that her paintings have generated a following among collectors. One avid fan in Washington, D.C., has a dozen of her works.

HOW I GOT STARTED

I was born at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City and went to TC schools, graduating from [Traverse City Central High School]. Drawing, painting, making ceramic things — I was pretty convinced this was my path. My mom was supportive, but my dad, a former marine, pretty much thought it was a harebrained scheme. Like most kids, I loved making pictures … unlike most people, I never grew out of this phase, and it remains my most challenging adventure.

THE STORY BEHIND MY ART, MY INSPIRATION

Encouraged early on in school by my teachers, I earned a scholarship and eventually went to Michigan State University art school. I have been working in the visual arts ever since. I tend to work in my studio, with my three Siamese cats watching, from late mornings until about 6pm, five days a week. I work almost every weekend, and I like to listen to Chopin while I work.

WORK I’M MOST PROUD OF

I’ve done oils and watercolors, but now I work primarily with acrylics on wood panels, and the paintings usually have a narrative, even symbolic, nature. Sometimes the images are somewhat difficult to interpret, but I attempt to clarify it a bit with their titles.

YOU WON’T BELIEVE

I’ve been a day trader. I am pretty risk tolerant. There were some days that I would make or lose $50,000 in a day. Unfortunately, the music stopped at the wrong time. I’m not doing that any more. Now I commit all my resources to painting, making pictures.

MY FAVORITE ARTIST

I have learned from thousands of artists, both past and present, but I think Man Ray, a surrealist, is my favorite. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements and produced works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. I'm also a big fan of the ancient Egyptians.

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING YOUNG ARTISTS

My advice to aspiring artists of any age is to embrace any technology to produce their vision. I use simple old-school mediums, but if manipulating an image or an object with complex computer software works for you, why not?

MY WORK CAN BE SEEN/PURCHASED

My work can be seen at the Michigan Artists Gallery in Traverse City the Sleeping Bear Gallery in Empire or at my website: nashartstudio.com.