Listening to an artist speak through one of their paintings is not as philosophical as it may sound. Every fluid brushstroke, every mixture of color, every shadow cast upon an object, utters a whisper of a memory or dream frozen in time.
Using the art of painting, as a medium of conversation, connecting a human visual experience, is a quality that one fine artist has strived to achieve and has mastered.
“We often see people on the street and do not realize the vast chamber held within that person until we engage in conversation about art, music or nature. Wanting to share my places and experiences with others helps to motivate my painting development,” said Nancy Foureman, professional watercolor and oil painter.
“Bass Rocks” highlights chiseled rock formations rising about powerful waters, changing angry, roaring waves to a peaceful, calm aqua pool.
“I have painted at Bass Rocks, Gloucester, for over thirty years, one of my favorite places. Many of the American impressionists painted here while visiting Gloucester at the turn of the century.”
Dividing her time between teaching, painting, exhibits and traveling from one end of the country to the other, Nancy has devoted her entire life to communicating and sharing her life’s adventures with others through her work.
“The act of painting is as important as the finished product. A painting hanging on the wall only captures the essence of a moment in time. We love impressionist paintings because they reveal a time period, a window to a great moment. My challenge is to share with you my moment. See what I see, feel the air, enjoy the sun, and hear the gulls,” said Foureman.
“Ohio Brush Creek” depicts a natural setting of local inspiration. This painting was motivated by a trip and exhibition that Nancy did for the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. A group trip, The Master Works for Nature, spent an entire week painting on the Edge of the Appalachia Preserve.
A particular area of the country that Nancy loves is Gloucester, Massachusetts, the oldest continuing art colony in America. It was here that Nancy was fortunate enough to work for Mr. Turabin, a chemist and owner of the East Coast Wholesale Warehouse. Together, they ground pigments and learned the resources for raw art materials. Mr. Turabin taught Nancy an appreciation of the quality of materials that make painting real Fine Art objects.
Presentation of Fine Art is another of Foreman’s fortes. She uses Giclee (zhee-clay) Prints to preserve many of her originals. Developed in 1989 as a digital method of Fine Art painting, Giclee is French for ‘to spray on’ and consists of achival inks on acid free Fine Arts papers or canvas.
“Swan” is a Glclee Print reflecting Foureman’s love of the water. The pleasure and relaxation pours from every ripple of the serene sea, while a family of swans provide an intimate relationship of their home.
Foureman believes that spirit has a great deal to do with how well an artist paints, changing a painter into an artist. A five-year member of the Susan K. Black Foundation has given Nancy the determination to create finer paintings, stretch to reach goals and lay down her paint with more authority.
These factors are easily recognizable by the numerous awards and exhibits contained in Nancy Foreman’s portfolio. With special recognition given by the Ohio House of Representatives, 124th General Assembly of Ohio, as a result of commitment and an exemplary record of service in the area of Fine Arts, Nancy illuminates in this area of work.
Collections include the American Embassy in Austria, Moroki Corporation, Division of Honda in Tokyo, Japan American Painters Collection, Paris, France, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, just to name a few.
Workshops and demonstrations are just as lengthy and you will also find Nancy as Show Judge in many local shows. The Darke County Fair, featuring the largest art show in Ohio with over 1200 entries alone last year, will find Nancy in the midst of the activity.
This year’s schedule for workshops includes the Cincinnati Nature Center, Ohio in May, Rockport, Massachusetts in July and New Harmony, Indiana in October. Nancy has taught painting and teaching workshops in Rockport for the last thirty-two years and found it to be very rewarding.
“I invite my students to come walk in the steps of Winslow Homer, NC Wyeth, Frank Duveneck and Charles Hassam, to name only a few, in this historical area famous for its landmarks and famous painters,” said Nancy of her workshop in Rockport.
Late September through May will find Nancy conducting weekly classes in her studio in Greenville, Ohio. She never tires of watching personalities unfold and grow while working through the ten elements of good painting. “Design patterns and value tell a lot about the person painting; their moods, their strength and their ability to see,” said Nancy.
Nancy Foureman was in the midst of the Indiana Plein Air Painters in April in New Harmony, Indiana, as they hosted a spring paint-out where she looks forward to red buds in bloom, crabapple turning the town pink, the grass a most beautiful color of green and early spring Iris popping up everywhere.
Nancy looks forward to the rejuvenation of painting outdoors just as she looks forward to many of her trips, which tantalize her inspiration. She says, “It is rewarding to live a painter’s life, I have no desire or envy of any other lifestyle.”
Editor’s note: First published Spring-Summer 2006, Art-to-Art Palette Journal, Volume 18-No 1. Print version view at – www.scribd.com/arttoartpalette/documents