Watercolor
N.C Swan (Nancy), a fifth generation Californian, has been painting since childhood. Accomplished in many mediums, she preserved the rapidly changing landmarks of our coastal history in copperplate etchings, watercolors, ink, acrylic and oils. Her award-winning artwork has been exhibited throughout Southern California and become part of international collections.
First graduating class out of Corona del Mar High School, she studied art, foreign languages and literature at OCC, UCI, and earning her Bachelor of Arts at UCLA, expanding her cultural knowledge.
Encouraged to paint and experiment from a young age by her artist mother, Nancy studied the masters, then, developed her own style, and methods. Her copperplate etching techniques are patterned on Rembrandt. With one foot in the old world and one in the future, she embraced nascent computer art before it was taught in school, producing digital art for commercial and corporate clients such as Avon, Marriott and multiple Print Publishers during the 80’s & 90’s.
Besides being immersed in digital art as a graphic designer, she is an illustrator of children's books “King! The Man and his Dream”, and ‘A Flag for our Country.” She was featured in and on the covers of trade magazines and publications, as well as in magazine articles like Location 3, and Laguna Beach Art. She has appeared in Best of America’s Watermedia Annual II, Best of the Best all media, Art Lover’s Cookbook Orange County edition, and published in the art book Shenzhen Biennial Small Works Exhibition and The National Watercolor Society’s Annual Exhibition Catalogue distributed world-wide.
She has held a position on the Board of Directors for the National Watercolor Society, (NWS), for the past 8 years, the last 3 years, as Director of Membership, an organization of approximately 4000 members world-wide that has kept her busy. This year, is the 100th Anniversary of NWS (1920-2020.) In honor of the Centennial, October 24, 2020, Nancy is organizing a first-ever special plein-aire event in our backyard, at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, to celebrate. She feels privileged that her NWS involvement, has provided her invaluable exposure to the most accomplished watercolor artists in the world for inspiration.
Having traveled the world gathering material for paintings, she was invited to show in the NWS/International China Exchange Exhibition, Shenzhen China 2016, and worked to host the Chinese artists in the U.S. Exhibition the following year. She has exhibited at the Festival of Arts two consecutive years, and shown at the Artist Eye Laguna Gallery since 2009. She exhibited in the Muckenthaler Museum, the Oceanside Museum of Art, The Whitman Gallery, Saddleback Inn Gallery, the Newport Beach City Hall, Chemers Gallery, The National Watercolor Society Gallery, Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens and Balboa Artwalk. She has been featured in news articles and was selected for a solo exhibit throughout the terminals of John Wayne Airport and been asked to judge at art competitions.
