Nancy was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1954. At a very young age she was drawn to the wildest place nearby; a remote ravine owned by the Ohio State School for the Blind. It was the most captivating scene in her world, and the subject for her first painting on a small canvas board, “The Place”. So began her journey to create and connect to the sanctuary and beauty of wild places.

In 1976 Nancy earned a BFA cum laude in painting at Bowling Green State University. While studying, she won an honorable mention in graphics at the Toledo Art Fair, and was included in the Toledo Art Museum Exhibition in 1977. She then moved to Tucson, Arizona, and worked as a substitute art teacher and custom framer. There she became acquainted with the delights of hiking in the Santa Rita and Catalina Mountains. To pursue better paying work, she moved to Seattle and became a locomotive engineer for Burlington Northern Railroad. From 1980 until her retirement in 2014 she remained devoted to her painting practice, while experiencing the Northwest from the unique perspective of the driver’s seat of a freight train.

Nancy’s explorations of the surrounding Cascade and Olympic Mountains while hiking, backpacking, and skiing have led to observations and experiences that resonate in her paintings. Her work has been influenced and inspired by many artists and techniques, including Emily Carr and the Canadian Group of Seven, mid-century abstract expressionism, and urban street art. She has been honored by numerous awards over the years and has many private collectors, including Microsoft. Her work has been invited to solo, group, juried, and museum exhibits, as well as art fairs in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Palm Beach. Nancy currently works at studio #308 at 697 6th Street, Prescott, Arizona.

email- nancyjmclaughlin@gmail.com
Instagram- @nancyjmclaughlin