Meet Nancy Reyna

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Reyna.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My painting business is my “second act.”

I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, always drawing, surrounded by a lush tropical world. A college friend once observed that I was able to “see beauty in a pile of leaves on the street,” and I realized early on that I needed to have beauty in my life.

Family, Art Therapy graduate studies, teaching, personal development, gardening, mistakes, and successes, have brought me to the person I am now.

I have lived in Miami for over thirty-five years, enjoying the way light sparkles and shadows cool, changing shapes and patterns. I see joyful colors all around me, in orchids, butterflies and evening sunsets.

I started painting when life closed a door and opened a new one. Twenty-two years ago, my husband passed away, and I began recreating my life. My friends encouraged me to take a watercolor class at Miami-Dade College, and I began growing in this direction. A few years later my teacher moved away, and I taught the class for the next ten years. Everyone at my school remembers the year I painted portraits of all my third-grade students to give them at the end of the year.

After retiring from twenty-five years of teaching at the primary and college levels, I have put my energy into the painting I love. My “second act” has involved growing in totally new directions in order to develop a business. I used to be a shy, introverted person, who avoided sharing much of herself. Today, I enjoy sharing my work and love talking with all the people who come to my booth at art fairs. My hope is to inspire others to notice nature and to experience the peace, beauty, and joy that are always all around us.

Painting is my way of appreciating and sharing the beauty I see, and feel, in the world.

Please tell us about your art.
I paint nature in watercolor.

I take photos of nature up close everywhere I go, always finding possible paintings in my surroundings. Nature’s beauty is everywhere. I look for colors, shapes, light, and shadows to select the ones I want to use for painting in my home studio.

After drawing the main shapes on watercolor paper, I begin adding watercolor pigments, sometimes pre-wetting the paper. Working on large shapes first, from light to dark, and around the light areas, I layer colors in glazes with my brushes. The colors in the shadows create the shapes and make the light parts glow. A variety of techniques, such as wet-in-wet, dry brush, and spattering, create the textures that I want.

Patience keeps the colors clear to allow light to pour right through them, like stained glass windows, so they have a special glow.

I believe we often need a reminder that we’re all part of each other and nature. There is beauty and good all around. When we look, we see so much! When we pay attention, we feel more peace, love, and healing.

I hope my paintings radiate the emotions and energy of peace and love that I feel with nature. I paint to share it.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I see that artists today have more opportunities for sharing their work and connecting with others, thanks to the internet. Making a living from our art might be more accessible, too, although we must become entrepreneurs to create the business. Galleries are not the only option anymore.

Cities like ours must keep the arts in schools, support art festivals (not just the giant events like Art Basel), spotlight local artists in the media like Voyage does.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be seen on my website: www.nancyreyna.com.

I will be exhibiting in the following art fairs in South Florida during the first months of 2019:

January
12,13 – Beaux Arts Festival of Art, at the University of Miami
19, – Art Under the Oaks, Islamorada
26,27 – Coral Gables Festival of the Arts

February
2,3 – Pigeon Key Art Festival, Marathon
9,10 – Cornell Art Museum, Spring Art on the Square
16-18 – St. Stephen’s Art Show, Coconut Grove
23,24 – South Miami Rotary Art Festival

March
8-10 – Fairchild Botanical Garden Orchid Festival

Contact Info:

• Address: 15301 SW 82nd Ct
  Palmetto Bay, FL 33157
• Website: https://nancyreyna.com
• Phone: 786–592-0211
• Email: nreynapainter@gmail.com
• Instagram: @nancyreynafineart
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/NancyReynaFineArt

Image Credit:
Rudy Umans
Prints Giclee Shop

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