April 19, 2023, Artist of the Month

Nanci Sheppard

At the age of 3 or 4, I was drawing as a way to have my own identity in a family of 7.
I continued to draw throughout my childhood and adulthood and am therefore mostly
self-taught. I attended Pasadena City College with a major in Art but went no further as
I was married and a son followed. Divorced after 6 years I became a single parent and
found very little time to devote to art. I took some courses from Art Center School of
Design in Pasadena and adult education classes.

In 2003 I retired and moved to Oregon from Southern California to find a vibrant art
community in the town in which I chose to reside. My art has shown at Crossroads
Carnegie Art Center, Short Term Gallery, and the Dancing Elephant in Baker City,
Oregon as well as The Blue Turtle Gallery and Arts East Gallery in La Grande, Oregon.
This gave me confidence in my art, and I won some awards and sold several pieces.

After moving to Green Valley, I found the Santa Rita Art League of GVR which has
opened the door to some wonderful artists and allowed me to expand on my art and
become a better artist. I am responsible for the Plein Air painters group and the Figure
Drawing sessions once a month. I also teach Pastel classes at Quail Creek and privately. I
participate in Tucson Pastel Society taking many workshops as well as Tubac School of
Fine Art. I have taken workshops from Doug Dawson, Richard McKinley, Christine
Debrowski, Leah Peterson, Lorenzo Chavez, Christine Ivers and Allain Picard. Since
2011 I have gravitated to pastel as my main medium.
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I have shown at Posada Java, CPAC Gallery, Green Valley Recreation Centers in various
shows, the Ironwood Gallery at the Desert Museum and St Phillips Gallery in Tucson.