For the past fifteen
years Nancy Guzik has been quietly perfecting not only her skills, but
the focus of her work, and the result, in one critic's words, is something
like Joy. She brings to the world of Art a warmth unseen in painting
for generations. Her works are pure refreshments for the spirit
because she paints as she lives - with honesty and an abiding faith
in the goodness of life.
As
a young girl raised in the mid-west, she grew up fascinated by the everyday
life around her, and the impulse to create pictures arose almost naturally.
Encouraged by her mother, Nancy's personal development and growth as
an artist led to her first professional work in the field of Television
Animation - mainly directed to the needs of children - which she pursued
until receiving a scholarship to study advanced painting at the American
Academy of Art in Chicago. Under the experienced direction of
the Academy's legendary William Parks, her attention turned to the more
powerful and expressive opportunities of Fine Art, particularly oil
painting.
"The
knowledge and skills she acquired after several years of study with
Mr. Parks were further enhanced by studies in anatomy and sculpture
at the Lyme Academy in Connecticut. However, it was her close
association and ensuing relationship with the noted painter Richard
Schmid, that brought her painting to it's full potential. Working
with him on a daily basis at the Palette and Chisel Academy, fine-tuning
her procedures, traveling and painting extensively together throughout
Europe and North America, she experienced painting at its most intense
level. She recalls the greatest lesson learned - "Richard taught
me to always strive for excellence and never to settle for less!
Painting will always be a learning experience", she says - "learning
to give what is inside me in the most beautiful way possible."
Nancy and Richard married in April of this year 1998.
Although
Nancy's technique reveals a consummate maturity, something of the child
within her invariably comes through her paintings. Certainly,
the depth of Nancy's work cannot be simply described in words because
her subjects are everyday people and things. It is her quiet wisdom
and enthusiasm for being alive that transforms the ordinary into something
more. Rarely has Art come to us from so pure a spirit, from a
woman who has struggled, and is well aware of risk, but unwilling to
surrender hope. Indeed, though she may paint the commonplace -
her close friends, a handful of flowers, her dog, a young lady in quiet
thought - her underlying themes are always of faith and trust and love.
Website: NancyGuzik.com
Gallery Representation
Talisman Gallery, Bartlesville,
OK
Pam Driscol Gallery,
Aspen, CO
Settlers West Gallery,
Tucson, AZ
West Wind Fine Art,
Manchester Center, VT
Selected Shows and Special
Exhibitions
Governor's Invitational
Art Exhibitions, Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO
One Woman Show, Tallisman
Gallery, Bartlesville, OK
Two Women Shows, Pam
Driscol Gallery, Aspen CO.
Special Exhibitions,
Palette &Chisel Academy, Chicago, IL
Minnesota Miniature
Show, Minneapolis, MN
Awards
Three Gold Medal Awards,
Palette & Chisel Academy, Chicago, IL
First Prize Award, Midwest
Pastel Society
Publications
"Shared Wisdom",
Feature Article - Southwest Art Magazine, June 1998
"Artist Worth Watching,
Paintings by Nancy Guzik" - Art Talk
"Grapefruit with
Apple Blossoms", Featured oil by Nancy Guzik - Danny's Travels,
Art Talk
"Works by Nancy
Guzik", Feature Article - American Artist Magazine
Education, Private
Study, and Workshops
1998
Painting Workshop with Nancy Guzik, The Loveland Academy of Fine Arts,
Loveland, CO
1993 - '94 Old
Lyme Academy of Art, Old Lyme, CT
1986 - '90 Private Study
with Richard Schmid
1985 - '90 The Palette
& Chisel Academy, Chicago, IL
1983 - '87 American
Academy of Art, Chicago, IL
Private & Corporate
Collections
Oil Paintings by Nancy
Guzik have been acquired for Major Private and Corporate collections
throughout the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, and India.