Spotlight On Nancy Boren, Texas Top Ten 2016

 "Mamma Mia!"  oil on canvas, 30 x 20

Name: Nancy Boren
Current City: The Colony, Texas
Website/Blog: nancyboren.com

1) When and how did you first become seriously interested in Art? 

My father was a full time professional artist so I was very familiar with that life as I grew up. I majored in art in college, there was nothing else that I was interested in.

2) What is your training, and what medium(s) / subject matter do you work in? 
I have a BFA and have attended workshops by wonderful artists including Dan Gerhartz, Ned Jacob, Milt Kobayashi, Carolyn Anderson and Casey Baugh. I work primarily in oil, but enjoy printmaking (monotype, collagraph, and block printing) from time to time.

3) What do you try to express in your work? 

I try to express what I find intriguing and beautiful.

4) What artists/professionals have been your biggest influences? 
My father, and I greatly admire Sorolla, many Russian painters like Fechin and Akhipov, Sargent, the Taos Founders, and too many modern painters to name.

5) What do you do to gain new inspiration for your work? 

Inspiration comes from different places. Often when I need a painting for a competition or deadline and I am driving in the car, I let my brain start working on it and I think of things I want to paint. Sometimes I see something extraordinary and build a painting around that element. It is really helpful to go places I have never been and be exposed to new visual images.

6) What would you like to be doing with your art ten years from now? 

In 10 years I would like to have done paintings I have not even imagined at this time.

7) Do you set goals for yourself concerning the making of your art?

A few: more acceptances in shows I want to be in, doing larger plein air pieces, just painting better and better paintings.

8) Are you happy with your job choice as an artist? Do you have any regrets in this career choice or things you would have done differently?
Yes, I am happy. I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who has a great job, so I have not had crushing financial responsibilities to overcome while trying to paint.

9) Any fun or interesting facts about yourself that you'd like to share?
I was one of 5 finalists in the design competition for the Texas quarter. I had never before designed a coin or anything round for that matter and got to go to a party at the governor’s mansion at the quarter launch.

10) Best piece of advice for other artists?

Advice — do it because you love it.