Artist Statement

New Mexico landscapes inspire me, especially the light, the ever-changing colors on the mountains and mesas, the wide-open skies, and the embracing silence.

Rather than reproduce a landscape, I take what I see into my own psyche and create many layers of underpainting on each canvas until the final image emerges. My paintings express the space that is nestled between reality and dream, between nature and the inner landscape.

Acrylics are especially suited to my technique because of the speed with which images can emerge, be washed away and rapidly brought forth again with new resonance.

My hope is that the viewer will find a continuously changing moment in my paintings so that what is seen at one time is quite different in the next moment. Just as our moods are in constant flux, I want my art to reflect the changing weather of the soul.

-Nancy Ortenstone