For the week of January 2 - 8, 2002

Looking for new landscapes

Artist embraces her passion for painting

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By MATT SMYLIE
Express Staff Writer

Among the many familiar faces on the night of the Ketchum Gallery Walks, there are always new ones, wandering the town for the very first time.

"Field of Sunflowers" by Nancy Crowley

Among those new faces at last week’s Gallery Walk was someone who’d been to the event as a visitor previously, but was a first-timer at having her work shown.

Nancy Crowley, an artist and arts teacher from San Jose, Calif., came up for a few Gallery Walks last year, and quickly became enamored with the Sun Valley arts community.

"It’s very progressive here," she said. "That’s one of the things I really noticed about Sun Valley, it’s a very passionate place."

Born in Chicago and raised in California, Crowley comes from a family of artists and writers, including her designer/illustrator father, Arthur T. Waugh, who continues to pursue his muse at the age of 82.

"It’s just in our blood," she said.

After early experiments with various art mediums, Crowley said she has become fond of acrylics, because of both the process and the end result.

"They’re easy to use and they’re bold," she said. "I love the strong colors you get from them."

Referring to her style as "faux-impressionist," Crowley says she’s inspired by current artists such as Pepe Royo, and classic artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

"Picasso had the ability to tell a marvelous story with one line," she said. "I’ve always been very impressed by what he was able to do with so little."

"I’m always studying what others have done to see how I can refine my own style."

With landscapes as her favorite artistic subject, Crowley draws not only from the Californian terrain around her, but on her favorite vacation spot as well: Tuscany, Italy.

"In my art, you’re going to see a lot of Tuscan landscapes," she said. "I find the way the light hits the atmosphere is ideal to paint."

Even when she’s not in Italy, Crowley’s work takes her to art shows from one side of the globe to the other—from Germany to Utah.

The financial benefit of her work is nice, she says, but the personal reward is much greater.

"I paint, basically, because it is my passion. Even if I never sold another painting, I’d still do it every day of my life," she said. "All of my art reflects the happiness I find every day in my life."

Crowley’s work did take a back seat, though, as she and her husband, John, focused on raising their 14-year-old daughter, Megann, who has so far opted for golfing as a hobby rather than painting.

"There’s been 14 years where I have not done much artwork," she said. "I’ve really been working on my greatest work of art."

Now that she’s back on track as an artist, Crowley said the most difficult part of her career is taking in an object, creating a representation of it on a canvas and ensuring the image still means something to her audience.

"It’s always nice to feel that you’ve created a successful piece, but it’s always a challenge as an artist to portray the feeling inside you. I think that’s the absolute challenge," she said. "Until you connect with your passion, it’s just another painting, and that’s what I try to do in my work."

Because Crowley believes so strongly in the feelings art can convey, she has begun working with an California-based organization called "Providing Art That Heals." It provides artwork to public and private institutions that serve people in various stages of crises and recovery from psychological, emotional and physical damage.

With pilot programs in Seattle and Carmel, Calif., Crowley said she has faith in the healing aspect of art, and that a portion of the artwork she sells goes to the PATH program.

"It’s an idea that’s going to spread very quickly," she said.

Being impressed with what she saw of the Ketchum Gallery Walk, Crowley said she was thrilled to take part in the event. Her paintings were on display at Comme Les Filles, the women’s apparel and lingerie boutique at the Courtyard mall.

This is a new concept for me, and I’m really excited about it," she said. "And if all goes well, I’ll be back for more Gallery Walks, so I won’t be one of the new people anymore."

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.