Page 172 - Masters

master

NANCY PINNEY

Lives and works in Old Lyme Connecticut, USA

SEARCH THE ARTIST ONLINE www.pinneygallery.com

Nancy Pinney belongs to a select group of artists presently working in the
representational tradition inherited from the original members of the Old
Lyme Art Colony. Educated at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art, an
institution that functions in the same spirit as Frank vincent DuMond’s
famous summer art academy of nearly a century ago, Pinney’s lush and
vibrant landscapes radiate a sense of authenticity. In Lyme and Old Lyme
today, there are numerous part-time artists who paint simply for the
pleasure of doing so. Pinney is a worker. She is industrious and dedicated.
She believes in the message of landscape, in its quietude, and though the
area has been saturated in paint for over a hundred years, Pinney finds
value in rekindling what Ranger, Hassam, and Metcalf labored so hard to
communicate. And she isn’t just bound to American shores. Pinney has
built an international reputation through an exploration in oil of her Irish
heritage. Her scenes of Ireland’s littoral and countryside possess the same
power as her domestic landscapes. It’s easy to recognize the real thing
when you see it.
Joseph Newman, The Cooley gallery

Nancy Pinney lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut, home of American
Impressionism and the famed art colony that existed there at the turn
of the century. The foundation of this representational tradition, and the
classical training that she received at the Lyme Academy College of Fine
Arts, is a continuous influence in her painting.
“The subject of my work changed direction after art school. Originally
trained in still life, figure and portraiture, I gravitated to landscapes after
traveling the United States. Living most of my life on the eastern shoreline, I
saw an entirely different world out west; the vast openness and mountains
inspired me to paint outdoors. Returning to coastal New England gave
me a new appreciation for my home, and I have been painting the lower
Connecticut River valley ever since. Years later I visited my ancestral
home of Ireland and found such a wonderful combination of luminosity
and atmosphere in a diverse countryside, that I have made it a priority to
return to paint there as often as possible. The process is also important
to me, from applying the layers of paint to choosing the right surface.
I prefer using panels, such as toned gesso, maple, mahogany, copper,
gold or silver leaf, leaving the background exposed when effective. what
appeals to me the most is preserving the natural landscape that is rapidly
disappearing from our lives, by capturing the place in a moment of warmth
and permanence, which I am reluctant to leave. My ultimate goal is to
awaken the viewer’s perception of a recognizable image, thereby drawing
them into the scene.”

 KerrY LIGHt, IRISH PAINTINgS SERIES 2006 OIL ON PANE 12x16 IN. / 30x40 CM.
 sCattereD sHOWers sUNNY sPeLLs, 2006 OIL ON PANE 12x16 IN. / 30x40 CM.
mUrPHY’s ram, IRISH PAINTINgS SERIES 2004 OIL ON MAPLE 9x12 IN. / 22x39 CM. 
168
masters of today