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Finding Horizons

This latest body of work is a response to daily walks on the dirt roads of my Vermont neighborhood.  As I wander, my eye captures the broad scene and the small details. I’m drawn to the color of stones, their striations and pock-marks indicating miniature landscapes. The topography evokes images, memories and feelings that are best expressed in ecstatic abstraction. Simultaneously, I find security in knowing where the horizon rests.  I love the physicality of oil paint.  I find it is a medium that is both muscular and vulnerable.  As the work develops I move the paint around with abandon pushing it with my brush, palette knife, my gloved fingers.  Using the vocabulary of form and color there is a dialogue that begins. A dialogue begins will place a mark and then wait for the work to indicate the next needed move.  It is as if the work tosses breadcrumbs to show me the way to a completion.  As in relationships, I realize that when I rush the process the conversation stops. But when I am silent and wait….then, the story continues. I find this to be magical.  Many times the finale piece does not come out the way I imagined, but rather becomes as it was meant to be. Painting is a way to touch what cannot be literally touched. My goal is not to describe a scene for the viewer, but rather to render the setting’s spirit; to reveal a story.  I have been deeply influenced by gifted painters such as Nicholas Wilton, Mark Rothko, Eric Aho, Wolf Kahn.

~ Nancy Chapman


Open Studio

© All rights reserved 2021 – Nancy Chapman Art ~ Reproduction and/or publication in any format of any of the artwork showcased here is prohibited. We thank you for kindly respecting the artist’s original work and labor.

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