Nancy O'Neill

Driven to Abstraction

Artist’s Statement

I present this collection of my work as a reflection on how my thought process has changed my creation process. Nature has always been an important and soothing influence in my life.  Plants, animals, trees, the seashore, and the ever changing colors of the sky are sources of fascination and serve as inspiration to capture that beauty on paper. Traveling to new places was a valued opportunity to explore and create art in a different environment.

The freedom to move about abruptly ended in March.  The ability to travel to foreign lands was forbidden.  Purchasing art materials was severely difficult. And yet what an opportunity!  What a gift of unscripted time I was suddenly given. To create in the time of Covid, I had to change my focus from detailed planning of a desired result and use the materials and inspiration available to me. In doing so, I rediscovered the joy of the process itself. I trust that this joyous feeling is evident in the art that was created..

Artist's Bio

Nancy O’Neill grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. She started her art education at a young age, often visiting the area’s many museums. Later, Nancy studied art at the University of Massachusetts. Nancy embraces and has studied in various artistic media; oil, acrylic and watercolor. The award winning artist has studied with local teachers such as Katherine Smit and Diane Panairelli Miller and continues to enhance her skills with nationally acclaimed instructors such as Don Andrews (2018) and Janet Rogers (2019). Nancy has studied and shown her work in New England, Florida, France and Spain. In 2019, Nancy was featured in a solo show at the Concept Shed in Millbrook Marketplace in Duxbury. That same year, she won First Place in Watercolor at the Duxbury Art Association Summer Show. She had been a member of the New England Watercolor Society, the Plymouth Center for the Arts, the Duxbury Art Association, as well as the Art Center in Naples, Florida. Nancy looks forward to showing her work at the Helen Bumpus Gallery at The Duxbury Free Library.