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Nancy Brown Dornan

I love to explore color and texture in a variety of subjects….from foods to travel experiences to light shimmering on water or light reflecting on a city scene. Bold colors and bold textures contrasting with subtle smooth paint passages appeal to me.

These transitional passages make me literally get my hands in my work. The tactile nature of my work requires a variety of tools, sometime to the exclusion of traditional brushes. Some of my work has been likened to an architectural dig, revealing layers of texture with color peeking through. Multiple layers of color and texture interplaying against, over, and under various layers appeals to me.

Initially I worked in only single paintings.  Now I prefer to generally work in threes.  Abstracts begin with one topic and then I abstract one element of the original abstract for the second abstract and again abstract the second abstract for the third abstract.  With abstract representational paintings, I again prefer to work in a minimum of threes to develop a fuller grasp of the subjects.

I began painting about eight years ago.  Through a variety of classes and workshops, I have explored a variety of mediums and a variety of styles.  One of my greatest gifts early on was attending a workshop in which we were encouraged to paint on big on large canvases with a looseness and abandonment. That was a very freeing experience for me.

In addition to becoming absorbed in the act of painting, painting brings to me a new appreciation of color and composition in life around me, a knowledge of a whole body of talented local people both as artists and students, and a wealth of new supportive and creative friends.

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