About My Art

My work lies in wait in my head long before the early roots of a project plant themselves. Once that tiny seed has germinated, it blooms wildly out of control into something with so much life it sneaks into my dreams at night and consumes my waking thoughts.   My inspiration comes both from nature and my extensive travels through the northwest and southwest United States.  Exploring the diverse richness of the landscapes, culture, and art of our country’s native people brings a timeless quality to my work.   The natural beauty of our country figures prominently as I focus on gardens, water, whimsy and wildlife in many of my pieces.

I love to work within traditional crafting methods and then stamp my work with my own distinctive flavor; including silk painting, felting, fused, kiln-cast and leaded glass, charcoal, paint, and chalk pastels. Irreverent, whimsical imagery fills much of my work.   Coupled with delicious materials – from batiks to wool, metallic threads, dye, copper and silver metals, silk, iridescent, dichroic and painted glass, and even recyclables – comes a palette rich in blues, greens and other “crayon box” colors.  I am primarily drawn to vivid colors and movement and use these elements to anchor my work.  A recent example is a traditionally wet-felted blanket that is reminiscent of our Native American culture.   The colors are bold and deep.  From a background of black rise the spirit skulls of our ancestors.  Metallic threads explode across the piece and provide another dimension, lending a kind of harmony to the main melody of the piece.

Life for each of us is truly a continuing series of defining moments.  Our memories of these times stack upon each other in an endless spiral to create the person who we are, today.  I seek to awaken my subconscious memories and strive with traditional craft techniques and vibrant colors to bring to the surface these emotive qualities in the viewer.   The meaning of each piece I create is intended to be personal to the viewer; I hope to touch a chord within them to allow them the opportunity for their own personal reflection.  We are nestled between the spectrum of a brilliant new future and the colored past, painted on both sides. We need to be open in order to see that it is not only our moments that shape us, but also moments from those who came before us – the shadows of their distant memories, emotions, and cultures together, layering and building continuously, inside each of us.

Bio

Nancy Bisson is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and currently resides in one of Ohio’s idyllic towns near the Cuyahoga River. She graduated from Kent State University summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in fine art/studio art/crafts, and also holds an Associate’s Degree in science. Her passions include exploring movement and color dynamics through felt-making, fused, kiln-cast and leaded glass, textile artistry, garden design, paint, and charcoal and pastel drawing.

Bisson’s earliest exhibit was at her local library when she was in eighth grade and, since that time, her work has been shown in galleries in New York City, Cleveland, Peninsula and Kent, Ohio. She receives inspiration from her extensive travels to Alaska, Central Coast California, the southwestern United States, and all things outdoors.

Bisson is an accomplished garden designer and is in the midst of planning a garden whose intended use is to provide material for natural dyes to color her wool and silks.