McCormick Gallery

Nancy Barnard - Paintings

January 17 – February 27

Artist Reception
Thursday, February 9, 6 – 7:30 pm

"Comfy" by Nancy Barnard

The McCormick Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by Nancy Barnard. Nancy teaches English and Integrated Reading and Writing at Midland College and has nurtured a life-long love of art. Her paintings are vibrant, colorful representations of moments of simple joy and human connection.

Artist Statement

In The Road, Cormac McCarthy paints a bleak picture of a post apocalyptic world where any human capacity for compassion and virtue has seemingly been replaced with an animalistic competition for survival. In this bleak dystopia, an act as simple as opening a can of Coca-cola becomes a moment to remember, a moment cherished by The Man and The Boy, who, in this world, share a love they might not otherwise have known. They don’t have to succumb. Likewise, in a world filled with conflict, fear, and isolation, my paintings depict people who discover a joy one might not as easily know otherwise. In my world, even simple actions are filled with the colors of hope. I like to use vibrant color relationships and continuity of edge to create a realistic but optimistic world for the people I paint. In my world, warmth and complexity and love and possibility take over and dance in shapes and patterns. My world reinvents life’s colors. My world, like McCarthy’s, doesn’t succumb.

Bio

Nancy Barnard developed a love for art at an early age and pursued her interest in formal education, earning a BA in art and English from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 2013. There, she fell in love with large scale figure painting in oils. She went on to earn an MA in English from the same university and currently teaches English and IRWD at Midland College while continuing to paint. The visual arts, teaching, and writing are equal passions for Nancy; she also loves writing poetry and fiction.