A Walk Down Memory Lane....

Lucy Finch and Nancy Lucas Williams in Port Townsend, WA, 2020

Recently I gave a presentation at NM Highlands University as part of their "Artists Talking" Friday Lecture Series. The woman organizing the series asked me to specifically talk about my techniques and tools. You can watch that hour long talk here: https://nmhu.zoom.us/rec/share/58OgXZf7mFXyPwZbNUb0QmjerrcBWpZ77p1rA_uor1mOaWSuUELtHAmZAHzPX1aN.UZFF5QNXf6cUX3sk

Anyway, as I prepared for the talk I realized there was no way I could cover that information without telling how I came to meet my teacher and mentor Nancy Lucas Williams (pictured above).

Our sailboat, "BOREAS" at anchor in British Columbia, Canada

At the time we met I was living aboard our 50' ketch "BOREAS" which was moored at the Point Hudson marina in Port Townsend, WA. Nancy and I were both artist members of the Urban Sketchers in town and on that particular morning it was raining (which happens a lot in the Pacific Northwest) so we ended up going to a coffee shop to sketch. While we drew we talked and we hit it off immediately.

During the conversation I complained that I wasn't able to capture what I was seeing accurately. The proportions were always slightly off and my drawings looked flat and cartoonish. While I was dissatisfied with what I was drawing I didn't know what to do differently.

Quietly she said, "I can help you with that".

And boy did she!

For the next 3 years I spent my winters studying at her Masters' Atelier of Drawing and Painting where I learned Renaissance techniques on how to SEE - or rather, how to UNDERSTAND what my eyes were seeing.

Nancy was an excellent teacher and I was lucky to be her only student for the first year.

Or so I thought.

Fellow atelier student Rebecca Nerison working on her cast drawing, 2020.

The next year another woman joined Nancy's atelier and having another person learning at the same time really enhanced the experience and accelerated my learning. Rebecca and I became fast friends and just a few days ago we caught up by phone. As we talked about our time in the atelier we both realized just how special it was.

And we realized how much we miss being in the same place at the same time.

A few days from today two dear friends of mine are immigrating to Mexico. Boy oh boy am I going to miss being in the same place at the same time with them too.

Life is full of changes and as I walk down memory lane I'm reminded that we need to soak up THIS moment. Indeed EVERY moment of EVERY DAY because no matter what, tomorrow will not be the same. Even if on the surface it looks the same, the things that happen and the people we meet will never repeat exactly the same way day to day.

So dear reader, take a moment to look around you and enjoy whatever is happening right NOW.

And again right NOW.

And again NOW.

You get the idea. 😉