Biographical History
Nancy Taliaferro is a skilful and imaginative oil painter, whose work embodies qualities of the real and surreal. She grew up in Baltimore, and as a young girl received years of training in classical painting techniques at The Schuler's School of Fine Art. She continued her studies at The Maryland Institute of Art, and received her BFA from the Philadelphia University of the Arts. For the last 20 years, Santa Barbara California has been her home.
Taliaferro's paintings transform the ordinary object, evoking thoughts of origin, purpose, and timelessness. Mystery and metaphor are defining elements in her varied subject matter, as she expresses the inexpressible. She is drawn to the imaginative and personal imagery of the surrealists, who questioned the boundaries between fantasy and reality. The quality of light and detail in her paintings are inspired by her passion for the work of Vermeer. Taliaferro's mastery of light, defines with rare beauty and presence, the subjects and objects of daily life, creating an atmosphere that is distinctly her own.
Artist's Statement
Picasso said: " We do not know what a tree or window really is. All things are very mysterious and strange, and we overlook their strangeness and mystery because we are used to them." My goal is to paint images that connect the viewer to that sense of mystery that is a part of all of us and our everyday world. The subjects that interest me are diverse, the common thread being the evocative quality of light and atmosphere that defines them. I am passionate about light and shadow, and this intrigue fuels my relentless exploration of rich transparent glazes, combined with layers of thicker paint, to create images vibrating with life, and a tangible presence. When light touches an object, and projects it's unique shadow, the object and the space that define it become a mysterious, magnificent world in itself. My compositions emerge from elements taken from my own drawings and photographs, exploring rural landscapes on my bicycle. I also work in my studio, creating from ideas and elements in my drawings of still life compositions, and particular objects, that connect me with with a deeper story of the human experience.
Exhibitions
Dec 5,2009 "100 Grand" Sullivan Goss an American Gallery, S.B. CA
Dec 13, 2009 The Nature of Things, TCSB Gallery, Curator, Susan Tibbles
May 1st - June 30th,2009 :: Oil Painters of America 18th Annual Juried Exhibition
Sage Creek Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Sept 29-Jan 16,2009 :: "EDGE: Santa Barbara County Artists Respond"
Channing Peake Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA Ro Snell, Curator
Nov :: 07 "Eyes Open" Galerie Eye, Carpenteria, CA
Jan :: 07 "American Surrealism", Sullivan Goss an American Gallery, Santa Barbara,CA
Jan :: 07 "Grantitude" Arts Fund Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Oct :: 06 Wildling Museum Studio Tour, Los Olivos, CA
Sept:: 06 Santa Barbara Studio Artists, Corridan Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
May:: 06 William T Colville Grant Recipient Exhibition, Montecito, CA
Jan:: 06 Santa Barbara Studio Artists, Corridan Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Collectors: (partial list)
Brooke and Mike Carhartt, Carhartt Winery
Ann-Marie Cepkauskas
Glywn and Heloisa Chase
Morgan Clendenen, Cold Heaven Winery
Lawrence Davanzo, Wilshire Associates
Brent and Suzi Freitas, Eye of the Day
Dan Gerber
Michelle Gysan, Broker, Cuso Mortgage
Alex Janos, Galerie Janos
Bob and Sara Hurlbett, Hurlbett Law Offices
Richard Jarrette
Mark and Mary Kirkhart, AIA Design Arc
Christine Mason Miller
Petrine Mitchum
Robert and Amber Naranjo
Sharlene and Gary Peters, President William T. Colville Foundation
Mr and Mrs. William Hamilton Porter
Michael Recchiuti, Recchiuti Confections
Tonya and Gabe Roche
Tekla Sanford, Sanford Winery
Kay Robinson Schofield
Mark and Cheri Swank, Director, William T. Colville Foundation
Mikaila Von Osborne
Jim and MaryBeth Vogelzang
Saral Burdete and David Weiger
Terry and Francie White
Pamela Yost
Press
Santa Barbara News Press- January 2008
"Moving from the great outdoors to indoor pursuits,Nancy Taliaferro shows semi-mystical, skillfully painted variations on the still life tradition. Pots, dishes, and eggs are cast adrift and afloat in dreamy, indeterminate space in these paintings, which suggest a portal into and out of domestic reality." Josef Woodard
Santa Barbara News Press- January 2007
"Taliaferro sets the stage with her varied takes, and varied tactics, on the subject of nature. "Moonlight Bowl" is a painting of a luminous, levitating bowl floating in ambiguous, cosmic space. Her other paintings offer twists on landscape art norms. She zooms in for macro-views of windswept grasses and thistles in larger paintings, and then inversely paints broader expanses of landscapes on small canvases. Scale is effectively tweaked." Josef Woodard