The natural landscape provides the inspiration for these abstract collages. Working abstractly, without attention to detail, allows me to focus on my visceral and deeply felt responses to maritime life; the land, clouds and sea provide the subject matter. 

I work primarily with Asian made papers because of their intrinsic qualities of texture, color, and line. I manipulate these elements to convey not just clouds, the brilliant sunset palette, the spaciousness of the sky, but the energy source behind these scenes. As Georgia O’Keeffe stated; “I had to create an equivalent for what I felt about what I was looking at - not copy it.”

This work represents an “in-the-body meditation” which I have cultivated personally through my yoga practice and which I feel/see reflected in nature. Ultimately, I seek to convey my interconnectedness to the natural world by arranging these torn bits of paper into unified compositions.

Industry Involvement

Cape Breton representative on the Board for Visual Arts Nova Scotia

Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design member

Canadian Artists Federation (CARFAC) member

Landscape collage works can be seen on Cape Breton Island at the Water’s Edge Gallery in Baddeck and Arts North in Dingwall. 

Nancy’s work is included in many private collections both nationally and internationally.