I’m opening my doors and you’re invited!

Yours Truly at last year's open studio! photo by Micha Hamilton

Rio, one of the six paintings I'll have at Stony's.

I was pleased when Raleigh Ceasar contacted me to be part of the new venture for the Pierro Gallery of South Orange — Pierro Downtown!

Raleigh has joined forces with the enormously talented Susan Napack to put together this tasty mix of dainty delights, featuring small works by Lisa Pressman, Susan Napack, Russell Christian, Sarah Petruziello, Greg Leshe and Stuart Tyson.

I hope you’ll stop by. Come hungry!

Stony's: Serving Up the Best in Food and Art! Photos-The Patch & Nancy Heins-Glaser

Burgers, Fries and Art!

Drop by the Pierro Gallery for this valuable coupon!

Until June 13, there is a special offer for all visitors to Pierro Gallery to pick up a coupon for 10% off at Stony’s. The gallery is open 1-4 Fri-Sun. Visual Alchemy – 8 African American Artists Explore the Spirit of Visual Narrative is up through June 6, followed by an exhibit of Gallery Committee alumni.

A "pulp confection" Hush Redux was created with the scraps from my project titled "Hush" during my Print and Papermaking Fellowship at the Brodsy Center

Please come out to see me this Sunday, March 21st, as I participate in a fascinating exhibition — Pulp!

Artist and curator Rachel Leibman has pulled together an impressive group of artists for this Arts Guild New Jersey show. The theme is paper and you will be amazed by the way these artists have stretched the boundries of this medium. Printmaking, painting and scultpure are just a few of the examples I glimpsed while I was dropping off my three works. Here’s a bit of what Rachel has to say in her curatorial statement:

… for most visual artists, paper still retains the same importance it always had. Artists produce their art to be seen on a gallery wall, hung from a ceiling or displayed in a home. It is meant to be seen in “real life.” Works of art lose much of their immediacy, resonance and intimacy when viewed on a computer screen. Along with canvas, paper is a mainstay to the visual artist.

— Rachel Leibman, curator

I think I’m most excited about the company I’ll be in: Tom Nussbaum, Susan Lisbin, Deborah Ugoretz, Mona Brody, Marion Held, Daniel Seidman, Pamela Guenter-Duffus, Keely McCool, Catherine LeCleire, Rodriguez Calero, Rocco Scary, Pam Cooper, Beatrice Coron, and Rolla Herman.

It’s sure to be a wonderful show. Come!

Pulp Artworks Made of Paper

March 19 — April 16, 2010

Reception, Sunday March 21, 1 — 4 PM

Arts Guild New Jersey, 1670 Irving Street, Rahway, NJ, 731-381-7511

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A Gem Among Her Jewels

Ms. Bell has not gone unnoticed; The Star-Ledger ran an article recently (“South Orange Art Collector’s Home is a Visual Feast“), and Park Place Magazine’s newest issue ran a multi-page article about Ms Bell: “The Art of the Party.”

Both are  wonderful pieces, highlighting her warm hospitality and keen eye for art. With a grateful heart and a  glow of pride, I’m delighted to say that Patricia cites me in both articles as an “artist to watch.”

Here’s a passage from the Star-Ledger’s piece: “Bell also lists the mixed media work of Nancy Tobin, a local contemporary visual artist among her favorites. New Jersey artists Claire Rosen, Willie Cole, Margaret Murphy and Lisa Pressman are also present here.”

And here’s an excerpt from the Park Place article:

Favorite NJ Artists to Watch

“I love new things, and always find a spot for the pieces I love,” says Pat Bell. “When I’m surrounded by all this wonderful work, it’s like living with the souls of the artists.”

Each month, as fresh—and sometimes massively large artwork—arrives at her home, Gabrielle Pulls, Bell’s housekeeper of 17 years, equips herself with an electric drill, a level, and a keen eye. As pieces leave the home, they often are loaned or contributed to non-profit organizations, such as the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

“I’m fortunate to live in this state because we have so many wonderful artists,” says Bell. “I like what’s in my backyard.” To keep au courant with the local art scene, get acquainted with some of her favorites:

Willie Cole, Mine Hill, multi-dimensional
(williecole.com)
Tom Nussbaum, Montclair, sculptor
(tomnussbaum.com)
Claire Rosen, Montclair, photographer
(clairerosenphotography.com)
Margaret Murphy, Jersey City, painter (margaret-murphy.com)
Lisa Pressman, West Orange, painter
(lisapressman.net)
Marcia Kure, Princeton, painter/collage artist
(marciakure.com)
Wayne Roth, Mountain Lakes, digital artist/photographer (2face.com)
Nancy Tobin, Maplewood, collage painter (nancytobin.com)
Dan Fenelon, Madison, painter
(wavedog.com)
Jordan Eagles, Short Hills, painter/installationist (jordaneagles.com)

Surface - S: One of an edition of 26, each one-of-a-kind

I was so pleased with the results and the reception of the limited edition piece I did to celebrate the new year: Peace Walk, that I decided to create a new edition to celebrate the coming of spring.

This time, instead of creating multiples of the same image, I created 26, similar, but different works.

Introducing Surface!

Each work begins with an archival inkjet print that is laminated to a panel. Several layers of acrylic medium are added to enhance the surface. Next, each piece is embellished with little pieces that have been hand cut from the original print. Every print is then silk-screened two times, each separated by several layers of medium. Hand painting is added to give each piece another layer of detail and additional depth. A final coat of medium, a signature and date complete each work.

Sixteen of these little darlings are gone — but ten more are available. Let me know if you’d like me to reserve one (or more) for you.

The edition in progress

Surface A — Z

5″ x  5″ mixed media on panel

Each piece is signed on the front and signed and numbered on the back.

Each work comes with a display easel.

$200. each

These are the available works *(the letters are not on the actual work)

Ignoring my sweet blog, ignoring chores — my determination to refill the coffers with big, glorious paintings, has kept me busy. Rather than write about it, I think I’ll share some studio shots of my work in progress.

I've started so many paintings with the intention of limiting my palette to shades of white…

… as you can see, color seduces me every time!

These two started out so similar…

… now they're heading in different directions. We'll see where they end up!

Children of Lir, by Lori Field    Photo courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

I was delighted to interview Lori Field for my latest West of Chelsea installment for the New York Times Local!

I talked with her about her new gallery in Chelsea (Claire Oliver), her background as a textile designer and illustrator, what inspires her creations, and her “Secret Drawer.”

Stop by and read for yourself how this New Jersey artist traversed the Hudson and wound up on the inside, looking out.

Visit my shop on Etsy, for my first “Share the Love Sale“! I say first, because, I’m hoping that it will be a great success, and there will be many more.

For every order of $20 or more, I will refund you $5 and donate $5 to the American Red Cross earthquake relief fund in Haiti.

Love, Nancy

Fifiteen scans — put together in Photoshop & ready to meld

What would I do without my scanner? I’d either be thousands of dollars poorer or have much crappier images of my work!

I’ve gone around and around on this one: how to get crystal-clear images of my art. It’s a concern for many visual artists and one that isn’t that easy to solve if your work is over 8 by 10 inches.

Here are a few options:

•  Get the work professionally photographed. I still have my doubts about the sharpness of detail you can get with a regular camera, so if you’re going to the expense of having a professional, I would make sure that they will be using a large-format camera. I really don’t have much idea how much this will cost you, but I do know that the cost will go down considerably if you have enough work to hire them out for a half day or a day.

•  Photograph it yourself. Yes, I know it can be done; God knows I’ve tried. But my results are worse than bad. There’s this whole “focus” thing, and then there’s the “shutter speed” thing, and I won’t even mention the “aperture.” All of these terms make me weep with the pain of the photographically inept. So until the time when I can figure all that stuff out, I’m skipping this one.

•  Take your work in to get scans made. This is by far my favorite solution! Many places that do large-format digital printing will also do large-format scanning. For about $100, you can get a high-resolution scan at full size. From there, you can use your image to make posters, enter juried shows, print greeting cards or anything else that you can think of! The price isn’t bad if you consider that even if your painting has sold, you still have the image — which you should own — to do all sorts of things with.

•  Put the painting on your home scanner. As much as I love taking my work into get scanned, $100 a pop starts adding up when you produce 2o to 40 paintings a year — OUCH! So  like many other artists I know, I put the painting on the scanner, and scan it myself. It works great! The resolution is super sharp, and the lighting and color is usually pretty good. Of course, this is all MUCH easier if your work is 8 by 10 inches or smaller — most of my work is not. So I place the painting down, and proceed to take scans of it in pieces.

I’m left with a handful of fairly large files that I need to reconstruct within Photoshop. I don’t know if I would suggest doing this if you’re uncomfortable with image-editing software. It takes some time, and it’s not an exact science. But you can save a ton of money and get really pretty great results.

Above is an image of all of the files put together, before I went in and merged them. As you can see, it isn’t seamless. That’s where some comfort with image-editing is important. I actually enjoy the reconstruction. The part I find tedious is the scanning, but putting the pieces back together is a little like working on a jigsaw puzzle.

Below is the finished image of Kansas, a 30″-by-30″ mixed-media painting on panel I completed recently. I also included an image of Oz. Both were named by my Wizard of Oz-obsessed daughter, who walked into my studio, pointed to the almost-finished paintings and announced,  “That’s Kansas, and that’s Oz.” I thought she was spot on.

Kansas. All the pieces back together again!

Oz!