Nancy Terrebonne exhibit 2008

Nancy Terrebonne creates mixed media paintings and collages by using watercolor (to which she adds ink, colored pencil, acrylic, and/or pastels) on various surfaces, including wrinkled Japanese masa paper, hand-dyed tissues and newsprint, and a non-absorbent synthetic paper called Tyvek. She especially enjoys painting fish, coral, other animals and flowers.

To create her masa paper paintings, she combines watercolor and Sumi ink on crumpled masa paper, a technique she says, “challenges me to use my imagination and to make the most of what at first glance might seem to be mistakes.” These masa paintings have an abstract quality and a batik-like look because of the way Nancy handles the paper.

Nancy’s collages are made by cutting and tearing layers of paper and gluing them onto each other. She adds paint to the various surfaces to enhance her designs. Her Tyvek paintings involve applying watercolor to a surface that initially resists paint but then, after drying and layering, accepts it. The texture of the Tyvek is especially suitable for depicting water scenes. All of Nancy’s paintings are earmarked by her sensitive use of color and a meticulous attention to detail.

“I enjoy experimenting with various painting mediums and papers,” she says, “and letting what happens on the papers and the canvas tell me what direction to go with my art.”

Nancy has been an active member of the art community in California and Hawaii for nearly 25 years. She has exhibited and won awards for her artworks in many different venues, and she continues to enrich her art and her life by taking workshops and by painting regularly with friends. Currently she exhibits and sells her art at The Main Gallery in Redwood City, California, and at Maui Hands in Hawaii.