“SHORE LIGHT”
Nancy R. Thomas
For the month of May the Artists’ Gallery will feature current works of Nancy R. Thomas in a show entitled “Shore Light”. The show will feature plein air work completed in festivals up and down the Eastern Shore over the past year. Painting on location presents many challenges that studio painting does not, however, the rewards are great. There is no better teacher of light, space, color and composition than painting from life. By immersing oneself in the elements the artists becomes one with the landscape, self is forgotten, along with time and space. The all encompassing act of capturing a moment in time, takes priority to the point of self sacrifice. One forgets to drink, eat and protect oneself from the elements. It is simultaneously a most rewarding and most demanding event and all else is forgotten in the process.
Nancy came to the Eastern Shore in 1994 from Alexandria, VA., where she pursued dual careers of dancing and painting for over two decades. Her painting classes were taken at The Torpedo Factory, The Corcoran School of Art, A Project Study Tour of Italy and Northern Virginia Community College, where she earned an Associates Degree in Fine Art in 1990. Thomas is a signature member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society and past member of The Washington Watercolor Association. Upon moving to the Eastern Shore, she was juried into the Working Artists Forum, where she has held many board positions including President for three years. She is an associate member of Oil Painters of America and paints with The Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay. She has been instrumental in producing and running the Local Color Show held each year in conjunction with Plein Air Easton. She was juried into Plein Air Easton in 2018 and in 2019 participated in Paint the Town, Chestertown, Paint Stevensville, Paint Annapolis, Crisfield Plein Air, Ellicott City, Ocean City, Berlin and Chincoteague Plein Air events. She finds the light of the Eastern Shore to be captivating and enjoys capturing the waterways and dramatic skies on canvas.
The show will hang for the month of May at The Artists’ Gallery.