My paintings are my way to collaborate and respond to my surroundings. They have to do with a kind of love, fascination and reverence for both the activity of painting and the place I live.
I work with mixed media on canvas or wood panels, usually in acrylics. I use glazes, transparent surfaces, spray paint and interactive finishes such as metal leaf or metallic pigments.
For years I focused on painting plein-air landscapes, and then went through a “metaphysical” phase where I was attracted to working with circles, mandalas, patterns and symmetry in a search for order amidst the chaos. I was drawn to breaking up and rearranging the imagery into patterns that have a balancing and centering effect or connect the subject matter to a wider network.
Partly inspired and influenced by reading books by the physicist Carlos Rovelli and others, I developed a body of work that was geometric and abstract, often based on spheres. An element present in these paintings is the sense of time progression, change, and transitional states.
Most recently I have developed a fascination with painting “likenesses” of the moon and planets, which extends the work using spherical shapes into a response to the beauty of astronomical photography. I am considering the mythic and emotional response we have to our celestial neighbors, as well as our need to embrace the mystery they represent.
My home and studio are located on a wooded hill near Harpswell Sound. My art practice is hand in hand with the experience of living in these woods so near to the birds and wildlife, as well as the dramatic change of the seasons and the weather. I want to combine realism or a naturalistic representation with a dynamic innate structure that exists to hold everything together.
Artist Bio
781-248-1754
nancygrice@mac.com www.nancygrice.com
Studio: Harpswell, Maine
Education
2021 Post-grad Certificate in Visual Art, Painting, Dunedin School of Art, Dunedin NZ
1980 BFA Painting, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Massachusetts
2014 MA Counseling Psychology, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Solo Exhibitions
2023 (May -June) Entanglements. Highfield Hall and Gardens, Falmouth, MA
2023 (January) Taking Up Space. Union of Maine Visual Artists Portland Gallery, Portland Maine
2022 Wavelength. With Lisa Knox; 249 A Street Gallery, Boston Ma.
2007 Scene and Unseen, Mandalas and the Landscape. Parish Center for the Arts, Westford, Maine
2006 An Exhibition of the Work of Nancy Grice. Massachusetts Archives Museum, Boston Mass.
Group Exhibitions
2026 Abstract: Three Views. Thorton Oaks, Brunswick Maine
2025 Cosmic Things, George Marshall Gallery, York, ME
2024,2025 Harpswell Open Studio Tour, Harpswell Maine
2023 UMVA Portland Holiday Show Pop-Up, 600 Congress Street, Portland Maine
2023 Abstract, Juried exhibit. Riverarts Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine
2018 Otago Art Society/Hope and Sons juried show, Dunedin Railway Station, Dunedin NZ
2010 Annual Invitational. Essex Art Center, Lawrence, Mass
2008 The Alphabet Project: Letter X. Essex Art Center, Lawrence, Mass
2007 Martinis and Masterpieces. Benefit for ABC Boston, State Room, Boston
2006 Environments: A Sense of Place National Juried Exhibition, Rocky Neck Art Colony, Gloucester
2006 Art on the Wall: A Juried Exhibition Essex Art Center, Lawrence, MA
2004 Beaufort Art Association Spring Juried Show, Beaufort SC. (Recipient of Memorial Award)
2004 North River Arts Society Spring Juried Show, Marshfield, MA
2003-2010 Open Studios, Plain St. Studios, Rockland MA and Washington St. Studios, Lawrence, MA
Galleries
2023 Meraki Gallery, Harpswell, Maine
2019-2021 Moray Gallery, Dunedin NZ and Pea Sea Art in Port Chalmers, NZ
Professional Experience
2024-present Cofounder, Harpswell Open Studio Tour
2025 Member, Maine Art Collective, Moulton St, Portland ME
2024 Member, Exhibition Committee, Union of Maine Visual Artists
2017-2019 Owner, West Harbour Gallery, Port Chalmers, NZ
2015-2018 Workshop Instructor, Mandala Painting. Worked at various retreats and workshops in Maine and New Zealand
1982-2004 Self-employed Decorative Artist, Massachusetts. Created specialized wall finishes, gilding and murals in residential and commercial interiors.