an interview with Nancy Regens who will show her work at 'The Happy Artist' (my place)
On
saturday april 1th Nancy Regens' exhibition of her art will start.
You probably want to know a little bit more about her, so I asked her
a lot of questions, which she answered with flair and enthousiasm. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.
Mariska: Hi, Nancy,
Welcome here! I'm so
happy that you are showing your paintings at my place!
I love them very, very
much!
I want to ask you some
questions about you and your art.
I understand that this
is the first time you're showing your work to other public than your
husband or direct friends. Can you tell me why this is?
Yes, very few people have
seen any of my artwork. While in middle school I remember my art
teacher sarcastically saying, “Well, I hope you are not planning on
making a living in art!”
But about 15 years ago I
found myself painting every room of my house and porches. I mean
walls were different colors. Then I started collecting art of all
sorts. And before I knew it I was told I had a “good eye”. I
would move things around – furniture, art objects, paintings, etc
until they looked good to me. People would ask me – are you an
artist? I’d say no. Then a common comment began – it looks like
your house is your canvas.
A few years ago a friend
asked me to go with him to a drawing class. Since I travel so much I
missed probably half of the classes. After awhile I figured out
online art classes would work better for me since my attendance was
not stellar.
Being in The Netherlands
has given me the time, space and inspiration to delve into my more
artistic side.
It has been very rewarding
and a lot of fun!
Mariska: Can you tell
me how you 'work'? Do you have a routine? Do you have any habits concerning
making art?
Nancy: A very important
part is music. I have to have that. We are lucky to have a great
sound system in our rented apartment here. So I crank it up, dance
and begin putting paint on the blank canvas in a random manner with
no intentions. I find my paintings are better if I do not have an
idea of what I’m going to paint when I begin. And after a few
layers I begin looking for things. I begin pulling these things out
and then begin looking at color, lines, composition, etc. When I plan
something out too far ahead of time I get frustrated very quickly. I
let the painting come to me.
Mariska: What inspires
you? How come?
Nancy: I’ve been taking
photographs for a few years now. This makes me look – really look
at things around me. I work with Lightroom and again this
helps me hone my visual skills.
After retiring I decided
to become a docent at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. I
love sharing art with people of all ages. I use VTS – Visual
Thinking Strategies to get art patrons to look over a longer period
of time. We talk about what they see and what exactly they see that
makes them say that. Listening to others talk about their
experiences with the same piece of art is very important. The group
is stronger than one individual art patron. I believe in looking at
a few pieces of art for a longer period of time rather than quickly
seeing many works of art. The docent experiences began to make me
think – maybe I could make art.
Mariska: What does
making art mean to you? How does it make you feel?
Nancy:I like your question –
not what does art mean to me but what does making art mean to me.
Making art is like an itch that has to be scratched. I have to do
it now!
Creating art is such an
intense experience that time flies by when I’m making art. The
music helps carry me along as well. The feeling is all consuming!
And I find if I go too many days without working on some art project
I feel something is missing in my life. I truly miss it! Creating
art definitely makes me feel more alive.
Mariska: What is the
first creative moment you remember?
Nancy: I think that was
when I felt compelled to paint the walls of my home and collect art
and other artistic objects to fill it. I think that was my first
positive art experience. Until then I never thought of myself as an
artist. When growing up my parents were very practical. They both
grew up in the Midwest. And art was not practical. They wanted me
to support myself – teaching or nursing careers were my options.
Mariska: What artists
are a model for you or do you like a lot? Why?
Nancy: There are so many.
I find artist models everywhere. My husband, Steve and I just went
to see the street photographer Ed van der Elsken’s exhibit at the
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. It definitely made me think about
where he found inspiration and how he went about creating it. His
motto was “show the world who you are.” The word here for me is
“show”. Showing my work is difficult for me.
Mariska: You seem to be travelling quite a lot? Does that influence your art? In what way?
Nancy:Travel is very important to me. I love seeing new places, visiting old places I’ve made connections with, meeting new people and visiting friends I’ve made earlier in my life. When I travel I use my camera to capture what I’m seeing and try to convey what I’m feeling. I’m always looking around for a photo shot. These skills come in handy when I’m looking at my canvas for what I can find there. Through this I bring out what is inside of me.
Mariska: What do you
dream about?
Nancy: I feel like I am
living my dream. Steve and I are here in Leiden, enjoying the Dutch
lifestyle. I’m painting and Steve is writing and giving talks.
Now I’m having an art show with live music. Don’t think it can
get better than that!
Mariska: What are your
plans concerning the art?
Nancy: So far I’ve
concentrated on making art–paintings and photographs. But slowly
I’ve been shifting towards showing others what I’ve been doing.
I now have a website via Zenfolio and I post on Instagram. This art
show is my first but I’m planning on having a show for my friends
and family at my home sometime after I return to Tucson. We have art
studio tours a couple times a year in Tucson. So I’ll try to get
into that.
Finally I want to thank
Mariska Eyck for this opportunity to show my work. She has been very
support and positive. She even loaned me a table easel. I’m super
excited about the live music at the opening.
Next I want to thank my “head cheerleader”, my husband, Stephen Pompea. He brings home new canvases when I’ve painted on all of the others. He gives me encouraging words at times when I’m doubting myself.
And now:
You're
welcome to enjoy Nancy's work at my place.
Saturday april 1th we will have an opening party with live-music from Boys on the
Edge and the Girl.
Join
us from 4 to 6.
Nancy's
paintings will be here until may 6th
and can be seen every saturday (except on april 8th
when the place is closed) from 12 till 5.
Mariska Eyck's
gallery/studio/shop 'The Happy Painter'
Rijnsburgerweg
75, Leiden
mariska.eyck@gmail.com
Nancy on the internet:
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