Nancy J. McLaughlin

I believe we have lost touch with our primal connection to nature as we learn to shield ourselves from harm. I make large abstract landscape paintings on canvas which recall a sense of innocence and belonging to a conscious universe we experienced in childhood.

Nancy was born in Columbus Ohio in 1954. As a young girl she would often play in a remote ravine near her home, a quiet haven for birds and wildlife. She called it “The Place”, and her escape to nature became the subject of her first small painting on canvas board.

Nancy earned a BFA in painting and creative writing at Bowling Green State University. She worked as a substitute art teacher in Tucson Arizona and became acquainted with the delights of hiking in the surrounding high country. In 1978 she moved to Seattle to find better paying work. She became a locomotive engineer for Burlington Northern for 34 years while remaining devoted to her painting practice.

She continues to enjoy hiking, backpacking, and skiing, which has led her to experiences in the backcountry that resonate in her paintings. Her work is influenced and inspired by many artists and techniques, including Emily Carr and the Canadian Group of Seven, abstract expressionism, and urban street art.