For local artist Nancy Jacey, the beauty of nature lies within the small features that are easy to miss. Her current exhibit at Workhouse Arts Center, a splash of COLOR, showcases Prismacolor pencil, acrylic and oil paintings inspired by animals, plants and the vibrant colors that exist in the natural world. We spoke with Jacey about the exhibit, located at Workhouse’s Vulcan Muse Gallery, before it closes this month. Here, see highlights from our conversation.
Describe your artistic process.
I think people overlook small details that are around us in our surroundings. So, I like to capture that. I usually take my own photographs and then develop drawings and paintings from them. I like to work very large so that people can see the beauty and detail and color that we have in the world around us.
How would you define “good art?”
A good piece of art captures what the artist feels, what the artist is passionate about. It’s not only just from studying in school, knowing what a perfect composition is, but it’s a part of the artist’s being in soul that you’re putting out in front of your audience. It’s about capturing what’s in you and what the artist is passionate about and then relaying that to the audience.
What makes you proud about a splash of COLOR?
The exhibit has four of my colored-pencil illustrations. Oils and acrylics are more of the traditional mediums that you see in galleries, so having those pieces there is making colored-pencil art and artists be more seen in the art market. Those pieces take a lot longer too. For example, I have two 30-by-40-inch full-on, colored-pencil pieces and that took me about 450 to 500 hours to complete. I’m super passionate about all the media I work in, but especially the Prismacolor pencil. // through Jan. 12; Workhouse Arts Center:
9518 Workhouse Road, Lorton; free
This post originally appeared in our January 2020 issue. For more things to do in the region, subscribe to our e-newsletters.
